JFK's niece Kerry calls Kennedy Center shutdown ‘tragedy,’ slams Trump over naming dispute

WASHINGTON, DC: Kerry Kennedy, the niece of former President John F Kennedy and sister of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, spoke out on Tuesday, September 15, after the Kennedy Center board voted to close the institution amid a dispute over President Donald Trump’s name.

Kerry called the shutdown “a tragedy” and argued that Trump was withholding financial support over the naming dispute. Kerry spoke just hours after a federal judge blocked the latest effort to add Trump’s name to the building and grounds.

Kerry Kennedy calls shutdown a ‘tragedy’ as Trump ties renovations to naming dispute

Kerry addressed the Kennedy Center’s closure during an appearance on CNN’s “OutFront,” saying the institution holds a special place with the American public. “Well, this is a tragedy. You know, the American people love the Kennedy Center. They love the arts. They understand what's going on. They see the corruption of this,” Kerry said.

Kerry also disputed the idea that the center’s claims that the action is taken because of financial problems and pointed to Trump’s comments about funding the institution. “There is not a financial issue here. President Trump has said they have $250 million ready to hand over tomorrow. He's just withholding it because he wants his name on the building,” she said.

Kerry then connected the center’s financial situation to Trump’s effort to associate his name with the institution. “This is like so many other things that Trump has touched,” she continued. “It's a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it.”

Responding to the latest ruling, Trump announced the board's vote to close the facility, stating that the step is necessary for safety reasons but indicated that the planned renovation would not move forward unless the courts ultimately allow his name to be added to the center.

Trump also said $17 million he raised had already been placed into the Kennedy Center’s account to “keep it afloat.”

Judge again blocks Trump's naming proposal 

Earlier in the day, US District Judge Christopher Cooper again blocked the Kennedy Center board’s latest proposals to add Trump’s name to the building and its surrounding grounds.

Cooper said that the board could not install a memorial for Trump at the Kennedy Center without congressional approval. The ruling followed an earlier decision by him, stating that only Congress could authorize a change to the name of the institution, which was established as a living memorial to John F Kennedy.

The latest proposals included language crediting Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund with renovations and financial support. The board had also argued that Trump was unlikely to provide the financial backing and oversight it said were needed without “appropriate recognition.”

Kerry has also previously spoken out regarding the same; last year, after Trump’s name was added to the center’s exterior in December, she wrote on X that she planned to remove the letters herself.

“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder,” Kerry wrote. “Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!”