What’s stopping President Donald Trump from tearing down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is ongoing litigation, according to Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member who brought the lawsuit.
In an interview with MS NOW’s “The Weekend” on Saturday, host Eugene Daniels asked the Ohio Democrat what is preventing Trump from simply knocking down the building for his planned renovation as he did the White House East Wing to make way for his ballroom — which now costs $600 million, according to The Washington Post.
“If Donald Trump and the administration send, you know, construction crews to the Kennedy Center and decide to knock it down, who’s going to stop them?” Daniels said. “He knocked down the East Wing, and it’s still unclear if he was legally able to do that.”
“This started back in December of 2025, so I’m a little more hopeful with this because we are in court, and he may have thought about doing it when he was ordered to take his name down,” Beatty said, referring to the Trump-appointed board’s decision in December to add the current president’s name to the center.
“So I think there is a slight difference, but I don’t want to make light, Eugene, of your question, because I understand where you’re coming from,” she said, “and that’s why we continue to go back to court.”
Beatty had previously successfully sued to remove Trump’s name from the institution. She is now challenging Trump’s bid to renovate the Kennedy Center.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued the center may need to be “taken down” if renovation efforts are barred from moving forward. Beatty is also seeking to block the board from adding Trump’s name back on the building despite the earlier court ruling.
In her Saturday interview, Beatty warned that it may backfire on the administration if it tears down the Kennedy Center.
“This is a living memorial, the only memorial to an assassinated president that was beloved by many,” she said. “But we know Donald Trump is acting like a spoiled kid. ‘I didn’t get my way, I’m throwing a tantrum, and now I will tear it down.’ So we’re not taking it lightly.”
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