Washington’s Kennedy Center is reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy after ticket sales and fundraising plunged in recent months, the Washington Post said on Monday. The re-inscription of US President Donald Trump’s name on the building is being considered as a possible solution.
After returning to office, Trump overhauled the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – Washington’s flagship national arts venue and a memorial to the assassinated US president. He also appointed himself chairman.
Last December, his name was added to the facade of the building but was met with protests, legal challenges, and a backlash among performers and audiences. The inscription was taken down after a US District Judge ruled in May that only Congress could change the building’s name and ordered the signage removed.
According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, the Kennedy Center now faces “certain fiscal collapse” within weeks. Internal forecasts cited by the outlet showed revenue has fallen far below target, leaving the institution with a multimillion-dollar deficit despite major spending cuts.
The center’s board has been told that Trump has offered to help raise enough money to prevent bankruptcy. However, he is reportedly unwilling to provide the necessary fundraising and oversight without “appropriate recognition” for his role.
Trustees will consider several inscriptions on Tuesday, including one stating that the center’s renovation, restoration, and endowment were overseen by Trump and the “Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The financial black hole is not the center’s only problem. Management is also urging trustees to close the main building immediately, saying it is unsafe for continued use after a large section of ceiling plaster crashed down inside the Grand Foyer during a storm.
Engineers have also found widespread corrosion in parts of the structure, including in heavy ceiling assemblies hanging above public walkways. The board had already approved a two-year renovation, but officials now say the main venue may need to shut as early as Tuesday.
Trump’s push to put his name on the Kennedy Center comes as part of a broader rebranding campaign that has already included the renaming of a federal peace institute, a prescription-drug website, a visa program, a planned class of US Navy battleships, and a stretch of road near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Democratic senators have responded with the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego, or SERVE Act, which if passed would bar federal property from being named after a sitting president.