Trump's Kennedy Center embarrassment came from an 'error' he can't stop making: analysis

[riversedge]

Trump's Kennedy Center embarrassment came from an 'error' he can't stop making: analysis
Adam Nichols
February 3, 2026 7:00AM ET


.................
Instead, he announced over the weekend that the center will go dark on July 4 for two years — an implicit, even if covered up, acknowledgment of failure, Graham wrote. And Trump's dealings with the arts center reflected a consistent pattern — believing his judgment supersedes expert opinion and that a "silent majority" supports his interventions............................




In December, after adding his name to the building's facade, Trump boasted: "We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially and every other way. And now it's very solid, very strong." One month later, he claimed: "A year ago it was in a state of financial and physical collapse. Wait until you see it a year from now!!! Like our Country, itself, it will rise from the ashes."

Now Trump declares the center will be closed and dark for two years. His contradictory statements, combined with the absence of independent board oversight or Congressional notification, render these repair claims largely unverifiable, Graham wrote.


............"A more plausible reason for the closing is that under Trump, the Kennedy Center can’t hold on to staff, artists, or audiences," he added.

[pwb]

1. Stolen Presidential Valor?

.

[tanyev]

2. Error? That's his modus operandi.

😒

[UpInArms]

3. ETTD

nt

[liberalla]

4. The part you highlighted in bold...

"believing his judgment supersedes expert opinion and that a "silent majority" supports his interventions....."

This observation perfectly and simply explains SO much!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Insider reveals Trump's 'absurd' Kennedy Center plan -- that aides scrambled to kill (taking the Kennedy name off center

trump really wanted to rename the Kennedy Center to the trump center. trump really wanted to take Jack Kennedy's name of the center and just has his own name. trump cannot stand sharing credit with anyone.

President Donald Trump's advisers stopped him from ripping John F. Kennedy's name off the Kennedy Center altogether, leaving the cultural hub simply called the Trump Center, his biographer said."Why does this have to be Kennedy?"

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-06T18:00:18.860Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-kennedy-center-2675105563/

President Donald Trump's advisers stopped him from ripping John F. Kennedy's name off the Kennedy Center altogether, leaving the cultural hub simply called the Trump Center, his biographer said.

“Why does this have to be Kennedy?" the president apparently argued. "That was such a long time ago.”

Trump, 79, has substantially remade the Washington, D.C. performing arts institution in his image, taking control of its board, renaming it "The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" without congressional approval, and announcing plans to close it for extensive renovations.

But writer Michael Wolff, who spent months inside the first Trump White House, told the Daily Beast that Trump's original proposal was far more ambitious. Wolff stated, "His first idea was to call this the Trump Center."

"I was almost assassinated," he said, according to Wolff. "Therefore, it should be me." Trump experienced two assassination attempts in 2024.

Trump's inner circle was able to persuade him away from the plan. Wolff said, "You can't say, 'This is a terrible idea. This is a megalomaniacal idea. This is not good politics.' You just cannot say any of that stuff to Trump. So instead, they said, 'Well, why don't we call it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center?'"

After trump closes the Kennedy Center for two years, I would not be surprised to see the Kennedy name removed. Hopefully, trump will be gone before the two years are up

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Insider reveals Trump's 'absurd' Kennedy Center plan -- that aides scrambled to kill (taking the Kennedy name off center

trump really wanted to rename the Kennedy Center to the trump center. trump really wanted to take Jack Kennedy's name of the center and just has his own name. trump cannot stand sharing credit with anyone.

President Donald Trump's advisers stopped him from ripping John F. Kennedy's name off the Kennedy Center altogether, leaving the cultural hub simply called the Trump Center, his biographer said."Why does this have to be Kennedy?"

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-06T18:00:18.860Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-kennedy-center-2675105563/

President Donald Trump's advisers stopped him from ripping John F. Kennedy's name off the Kennedy Center altogether, leaving the cultural hub simply called the Trump Center, his biographer said.

“Why does this have to be Kennedy?" the president apparently argued. "That was such a long time ago.”

Trump, 79, has substantially remade the Washington, D.C. performing arts institution in his image, taking control of its board, renaming it "The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" without congressional approval, and announcing plans to close it for extensive renovations.

But writer Michael Wolff, who spent months inside the first Trump White House, told the Daily Beast that Trump's original proposal was far more ambitious. Wolff stated, "His first idea was to call this the Trump Center."

"I was almost assassinated," he said, according to Wolff. "Therefore, it should be me." Trump experienced two assassination attempts in 2024.

Trump's inner circle was able to persuade him away from the plan. Wolff said, "You can't say, 'This is a terrible idea. This is a megalomaniacal idea. This is not good politics.' You just cannot say any of that stuff to Trump. So instead, they said, 'Well, why don't we call it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center?'"

After trump closes the Kennedy Center for two years, I would not be surprised to see the Kennedy name removed. Hopefully, trump will be gone before the two years are up