Trump administration raises demolition threat as legal battle over renaming heats up

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration warned in a court filing Tuesday that the Kennedy Center could face demolition if a federal judge issues an order permanently blocking President Trump's push to renovate the facility.

In an extraordinary filing, Brantley Mayers — a top official in the DOJ's Civil Division — argues the "decrepit" Kennedy Center faces an imminent "death spiral" without Trump's intervention. DOJ attorneys called the Kennedy Center "structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation's Capital."

The filing warned that without Trump's efforts, "the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down," suggesting the site could be replaced with "a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River."

The controversy stems from a legal battle that has consumed the Kennedy Center since December 2025, when Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) filed a lawsuit arguing only Congress can authorize renaming the institution. In May 2026, a federal judge sided with Beatty, ruling that the board's decision to rename it the "Trump Kennedy Center" was unlawful. The Kennedy Center's board voted again in August 2026 to add Trump's name to the building, prompting Beatty to seek an emergency court order blocking the move.

Critics fired back swiftly. "The administration is now threatening in federal court to LEVEL the Kennedy Center if Trump does not get his way," attorney Norm Eisen wrote on X. "His path of destruction knows no bounds."

A hearing is scheduled for August 28.