“What is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness,” the 2008 Kennedy Center Honoree said on Thursday, Sept. 17
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- Barbra Streisand shared a statement on Thursday, Sept. 17, criticizing President Donald Trump’s efforts to rename and potentially shut down the Kennedy Center
- Trump-appointed board members lobbied to add his name to the venue, sparking legal battles and public opposition
- Streisand, a Kennedy Center Honoree, called out the president for his “unchecked ego”
Barbra Streisand is condemning President Donald Trump for his recent threats to demolish the Kennedy Center.
Trump, 80, threatened to shut down the “living memorial” to President John F. Kennedy after the courts continue to block bids to put his name on the building.
On Thursday, Sept. 17, the two-time Oscar winner, 84, called out the president and his ongoing attempts in a message on her personal website. Streisand, who was inducted as a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008, celebrated the center as “one of America’s great cultural venues.”
“For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy,” she wrote. “That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness.”
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She continued, detailing how a judge “ruled that the Kennedy Center’s name could not be changed without an act of Congress” and that Trump’s name would be removed from the building.
“When Donald Trump attempted to put his name alongside the late President Kennedy’s on the building’s entrance, the move was met with widespread opposition from artists and much of the public,” she wrote. Trump added his name to the building’s façade in December 2025, and the center removed it in June 2026.
“Yet the fight continued. After his name was removed, a humiliated Trump ordered a large tarp placed over the façade, where it remains today,” the actress continued, before remarking on the board, which was appointed by Trump, and their allegiance to the president.
“The Trump-aligned board then relentlessly lobbied again to add his name, prompting another federal ruling that blocked their effort.”
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“And now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation,” she wrote. “Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!”
“You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
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Streisand’s comments follow U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s Tuesday, Sept. 15, ruling that the venue’s Trump-appointed board of trustees could not change the name “without Congress’ blessing.” Congress already set aside $257 million to fund the two years of renovations.
Ahead of the ruling, Justice Department lawyers argued that the court-ordered removal of Trump’s name in June put the center at risk of bankruptcy, and that the building had deteriorated to a potentially life-threatening degree.
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Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees later voted to close the performing arts venue, prompting Kennedy family members to voice their disapproval.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, a photographer for the wire service Agence France-Presse spotted Trump examining a poster aboard Air Force One that appeared to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.”
The president told reporters on Thursday, Sept. 17, that the building would be destroyed if his administration isn’t recognized for “fixing” the space. If not, the iconic performing arts venue will “end up being ripped down.”
Also on Thursday, Cooper allowed the institution to remain closed. The judge ordered the Trump administration to provide written notice 30 days in advance to Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is an ex-officio member of the board, and the other plaintiffs of any planned major renovations, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the Center’s main building.”
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