Donald Trump's Bruised Ego Takes The Wheel As He Makes A Major Kennedy Center Decision

We've all watched Donald Trump's Kennedy Center rebrand cost the venue its reputation, ultimately leading to the announcement of its temporary closure for a planned period of two years. Based on his latest Truth Social post about the performing arts center, Trump is probably well aware of how his changes have affected public perception around the historic institution. The Trump Kennedy Center, as it's now called, doesn't get the same respect that the Kennedy Center once did, and Trump seems to be pouting about it.

It's been one year since Trump took over as the Kennedy Center board chairman, and plenty of people have dropped out since he entered the scene. Performers have quit, ticket sales have plunged, and concerts and shows have been canceled. This exodus began with canceled performances of the "Hamilton" national tour one month into Trump's Kennedy Center reign. Producer Jeffrey Seller didn't mince words about the situation on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, "The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national center represents."

Productions and performers were joined in their outrage by board members and even members of the Kennedy family, and the backlash has finally caught up with Trump. On February 1, he took to Truth Social to announce the Kennedy Center's upcoming closure on July 4, 2026. He claimed that this will be done to make way for renovations, but plenty of folks are guessing that the reason has more to do with the damage this whole endeavor has caused to his notorious ego.

"I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind," Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. He claimed that, "subject to Board approval," the center will ceremoniously close for two years, "with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before." However, people are skeptical of this messaging, with some political commentators thinking this has more to do with backlash than renovations.

"The Kennedy Center has been in continuous operation for 55 years. Trump and Ric Grenell destroyed it in one year by making it so toxic that nobody will perform there. Now they have to shut it down like a Trump casino," wrote Ron Filipkowski of Meidas Touch on X. "Trump is closing the Kennedy Center after ticket sales plunge and multiple artists pull out of shows because of Trump," added commentator Brian Krassenstein.

Others were more vehement in their criticism. "So trump slapped his name on the Kennedy Center, then got so butthurt that nobody wanted to perform there anymore he f***ing closed it. He is the most pathetic, whiny-a**, thin skinned little b**** who ever lived," wrote one netizen on X. It's fair that people assume this latest move has more to do with Trump's offense at the backlash to his rebrand than it does any makeover he wants to give it. In fact, knowing his MO, this sounds exactly like how he would respond to Hollywood's rejection of Trump and his wife after the disastrous premiere of the documentary "Melania."