Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the Kennedy Center in Washington DC will close for two years to focus on “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.”
However, CNN anchor Jake Tapper has revealed the real reason Trump is closing the iconic DC entertainment center. Tapper says it is due to the fact that no one wants to perform there anymore, plus seats for events that do happen are going unsold.
After Donald Trump announced the shutdown of the Kennedy Center, Tapper posted a video on X, questioning the president’s narrative and revealing that ticket sales at the center have fallen to levels last seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whatever spin the White House wants to put on this, a lot of artists and a lot of would-be performing arts goers have voted with their feet, and the voting for the president was not positive,” Tapper said. “Though, of course, I’m sure he’ll reject that because he tends to reject negative election results.”
What is President Trump doing to the Kennedy Center and why now? pic.twitter.com/YZfT8DXelQ
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) February 2, 2026
Meanwhile, Tapper visited the Kennedy Center, to which Trump has recently has added his name, following the news that the president has decided to stop “Entertainment Operations” from July 4 for around two years.
While trying to push his own agenda and taste on the center, Trump, 79, said he would take the “tired, broken, and dilapidated” venue and make it into a “new and beautiful Landmark.”
The president is a former real estate developer and he says he conducted a one-year review of the Kennedy Center with “Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants,” and he then considered both a partial and full closure.
Moreover, Trump justified shutting the center completely by claiming that “interruptions with Audiences from the many events” would impact the timing and quality of the Kennedy Center’s makeover.
However, Tapper claims the true reason is that performers and audience members like don’t want Trump’s version of the center is the true cause for the decision.
“Because of what the president was doing, artists started canceling their performances here. And in fact, it got so bad that last October, the Washington Post reported that ticket sales for orchestra, theater and dance performances were the lowest they had been since the COVID pandemic,” he said.
Earlier, Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming, cancelled her appearance at the center, giving her reason as a “scheduling conflict.” Meanwhile, renowned composer Philip Glass has withdrawn the much-anticipated world premiere of his Symphony No. 15, “Lincoln” last week, simply citing the reason as “current leadership.”
Moreover, the Martha Graham Dance Company has canceled its booked April performance. Next, the center’s newly appointed programming chief resigned after a few days spent in the role. Furthermore, the Washington National Opera brought its five-decade run at the Kennedy Center to an end earlier this month.
When Trump took over the Kennedy Center last year, he started purging the center’s board, while firing its president and chairman. He then appointed loyalist Ric Grenell as the president, and he himself as chairman of the center. After all these changes, the president insists he is saving the institution.
“People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” he wrote in a Truth Social post last week.
