Copyright MassLive
Even as he faces backlash for his White House ballroom project, President Donald Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., is also getting a makeover. In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump showed photos of upcoming renovations to the Kennedy Center, including its exterior columns, which were painted in white, replacing what he described as “the fake-looking gold paint that was there for years.” “Many major improvements are being made, including seating, carpeting, wall coverings, ceilings, chandeliers, stages, heating and A/C, etc., to what will soon be the finest Arts and Entertainment Center anywhere in the World,” Trump said, calling the performing arts center the “new TRUMP KENNEDY, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER.” Trump added that the center will remain fully open during construction. “I am doing the same thing to the United States of America, but only on a ‘slightly’ larger scale!” the president said in his post. Trump took over the Kennedy Center earlier this year after he fired all 18 board members and replaced them with loyalists. In July, U.S. Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., introduced the Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act, which would strip any mention of the slain 35th president from the iconic performing arts space and rename it the “Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts.” Meanwhile, the White House’s East Wing has been demolished to accommodate the construction of the new ballroom, which Trump praised on Truth Social last Monday, describing the project as “completely separate from the White House itself.” The 90,000-square-foot ballroom, funded by private donors, is expected to cost $300 million. It will be the latest change introduced to what’s known as “The People’s House” since the Republican president returned to office in January. It will also be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman Balcony in 1948.
