Kennedy Center Warns It Could Go Bankrupt Within Days If Donald Trump's Name Isn't Added to Building, Documents Reveal

The Kennedy Center's board of Donald Trump loyalists is warning that the only way to prevent the iconic arts center from going bankrupt is to slap the president's name on the building.

The assessment was laid out in a 57-page memo written by Center officials ahead of a Tuesday, September 15, meeting where the Trump-allied board will consider two resolutions concerning the Center's fate.

The document, obtained by The Washington Post, says the Center will be unable to make payroll or pay maintenance costs "in a matter of weeks," and that adding Trump's name to the building is their best chance at raising funds to keep it afloat. It also says that the Kennedy Center is in such poor condition that keeping it open risk lives.

The board is likely to close the establishment which could happen the day of the meeting.

At the center of the presentation is the idea that Trump will swoop in to save the Center if he gets his name on the building. The document says the 80-year-old president has offered to “raise the necessary funds to keep the Center from bankruptcy” while the building gets a massive renovation.

Trump has been desperately trying to get his name attached to the Kennedy Center. He initially renamed the building after himself in late 2025 and affixed his name above Kennedy's, leading to it reading, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." A judge ordered that Trump's name be taken down.

He has since been trying to get a note attached on the building's facade to the effect of "Renovation Restoration and Endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund."

The president's efforts have been challenged in court by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, a board member who did not get replaced by Trump when he took office in 2025.

“This constant effort to add Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center facade is the definition of insanity,” lawyers Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said in a statement. “This is now the third attempt to deface this sacred memorial and turn it into a vanity project for one man’s ego. Worse still, now Trump is taking the Center hostage and threatening to in effect kill it unless he gets his way."

Her lawyers previously argued that the Center does not need to be closed for renovations, and that Trump and his board are only advocating for closure to convince the court that affixing his name to the building is a necessity.

Trump's stewardship of the Kennedy Center is a significant factor in why it's currently struggling. In August, the Washington Post reported that the hyper-politicization of the Kennedy Center under Trump's leadership caused ticket sales to decrease, and once he added his name onto it in 2025, it was done for.

The name fiasco “was just an absolute fiscal cliff. Donors disappeared, ticket sales disappeared, artists disappeared — like it was doomsday,” an anonymous insider told the paper.

Internal Kennedy Center documents suggested that the change was so disastrous for the Center that it was on track to fall short of its annual revenue goal by $100 million.