President Trump urged board members of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to vote to close the institution for a two-year renovation project, saying in a news conference on Monday that the center had been “let go to hell” and was on “the verge of collapse” before he took over.
With the center’s board of trustees assembled around him at the White House, Mr. Trump said they needed to shutter the center to complete renovations quickly — a plan that has drawn objections by Democrats and has been contested in court.
“What I know best in the world is construction,” Mr. Trump said. “The best way to do it is close it, do it properly and reopen it, have a grand reopening. And when it’s finished it’s going to be far better than it was when it was originally built.”
The full scope of the renovations, if they are approved, is not entirely clear. But Mr. Trump has promised both structural and internal renovations, saying on Monday that the heating system would be “ripped out in its entirety” and new marble would be installed. Kennedy Center officials have described plans to address the building’s plumbing, electrical, fire protection and technical stage systems.
Mr. Trump’s remarks, which veered from criticisms of the center’s unions to the personal wealth of the board’s members, was a preamble to Monday’s scheduled vote about whether to close the institution in July.
“Necessary maintenance has been ignored, the programming was very woke and out of touch with reality,” Mr. Trump said of the period before he installed his allies. After he took over, he said, the center had “gotten rid of all of the D.E.I.” and “brought back patriotic and family-friendly programming.”
In his second term, Mr. Trump has sought to leave his mark on Washington’s pre-eminent performing arts center. He was made chairman of its board last year after stacking it with loyalists, appointed an ally as the institution’s president and personally hosted its marquee event. Late last year, the board voted to add Mr. Trump’s name to the center, prompting a new wave of cancellations from artists and boycotts from some patrons.
Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a Democrat and an ex officio member of the board, sued the president and the board over the name change, saying in her lawsuit that the “ongoing politicization of the Kennedy Center has had grave consequences for the institution.”
As the Kennedy Center readies itself for renovations, Mr. Trump announced last week that his handpicked leader, Richard Grenell, would be leaving his position, and that Matt Floca, the vice president for facilities operations, would be taking over.
The announcement of the closure last month prompted an uproar from Democrats, who have suggested that the decision was actually motivated by financial problems that have stemmed from declining ticket sales and cancellations from artists over the past year.
Ms. Beatty has begun to challenge the planned closure in court. A federal judge ruled over the weekend that Ms. Beatty must receive details about the renovation plans and be allowed to participate in the meeting. She was present at the board meeting on Monday.
At the news conference, Mr. Trump said he expected that the vote, which will take place behind closed doors, would be in his favor.
“It’s a little late for the board because we’ve already announced it, but these are minor details,” he said, adding, “I think everybody agrees.”
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
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