President Donald Trump is refusing to rule out demolishing the Kennedy Center, which closed last month amid a legal battle over whether Trump can add his name to the building.
“I’m not committing to anything,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine that published Thursday. “We’re going to see how it plays out in court.”
Trump and his allies have argued that the Kennedy Center was structurally unsafe and needed to be closed to undergo a two-year, $250 million renovation. Trump, however, has said he won’t allow renovations to start unless he can put his name on the building.
“It’s in terrible shape. I’d be willing to save it, but it’s in terrible, terrible shape. Only I can save it,” Trump told Time magazine.
Trump also compared the Kennedy Center to the White House, whose East Wing he demolished last year to begin constructing a 90,000-square-foot ballroom that he has argued is necessary for national security.
“When I took it over, [the Kennedy Center] was in extremely bad shape physically. The steel was rusted and rotted,” Trump told the magazine. “The place was a dirty — like the White House. I fixed the White House, you know.”
A federal judge has said the center must give at least 30 days’ notice of any demolition plans, and the center’s leader has declared in court the building won’t be torn down.
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