The Justice Department warned in a federal court filing on Tuesday, Aug. 25, that the Kennedy Center could be demolished and replaced with an outdoor amphitheater if President Donald Trump's name is kept off the building.
DOJ attorney Brantley T. Mayers wrote that without Trump-backed renovation efforts, the performing arts center at 2700 F St. NW "will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down," according to WTOP's reporting on the filing. The replacement, Mayers suggested, could be "a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River."
The filing does not announce a demolition plan. It frames the scenario as a possible consequence if the court blocks the Kennedy Center's Trump-aligned board from adding the president's name to the facade.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper will hear arguments on the matter Friday, Aug. 28, in D.C. federal court.
A second naming attempt
The filing is the latest salvo in a months-long legal fight. Cooper ruled in May that Trump's name had been added to the building illegally, writing that the venue "must be named for, and is meant to honor, President Kennedy alone" and that only Congress can change it. A tarp still covers the facade where the letters once hung.
The center's board voted 20-3 on Aug. 13 to try again, this time adding "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" beneath the existing name and renaming the front plaza "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio board member who filed the original lawsuit, asked the court to block the new attempt. Her attorneys called it "a transparent attempt to effectuate the renaming in another guise" and asked Cooper to "put an end to this childish gambit."
Beatty's attorney Nathaniel Zelinsky said in a statement that the DOJ filing "reads like it was written personally by Donald Trump" and called it "legally baseless."
Financial freefall
The DOJ's argument hinges on money. The filing described the Kennedy Center as "structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation's Capital," and argued that blocking Trump's name would cause donors to flee.
A judges' panel rejected that same fundraising argument in July, saying it lacked "specific facts or evidence."
But new financial data complicates the picture. Internal documents obtained by the Washington Post show ticket sales and fundraising collapsed after Trump's name was first added in December 2025, as reported by Consequence of Sound citing the Post's findings. The center's original $220 million budget shrank to a $124 million projection by late May, with ticket-sale forecasts cut 70% and donation projections slashed 25%.
The Kennedy Center's attorneys credited Trump with securing $258 million in federal renovation funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Ripple effects across D.C.
The National Symphony Orchestra, forced out by the planned two-year closure, announced it will split its 2026-27 season among six venues across the region, including the Lincoln Theatre, Lisner Auditorium and the Strathmore in North Bethesda. NSO ticket sales fell from 72% of capacity in 2024 to 41% in the most recent season, according to WJLA.
NSO music director Gianandrea Noseda acknowledged the upheaval on Aug. 18: "I honestly would have preferred not to go through this, but the situation is the way it is and we have to be proactive."
Chris Raleigh, who leads the local activist group Hands Off the Arts, told the Washington City Paper on Aug. 17 that the board's actions are "outside of it being illegal, it's just gross and wrong."
Friday's hearing before Judge Cooper will determine whether the board's latest naming effort survives or is struck down.
