Kennedy Center says “nothing is being demolished” as Trump says it could be “ripped down”

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to give 30 days notice before any “demolition” occurs at the Kennedy Center, an order that came less than 24 hours after President Trump said that the performing arts center could be “ripped down,” and photos showed him looking at a document that said “Kennedy Center Demolished.”

Before Mr. Trump’s comments, a spokesperson for the Kennedy Center insisted Wednesday that “nothing is being demolished” at the performing arts center.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper on Thursday issued an order requiring a detailed report from the Justice Department by next Wednesday on the current “temporary closure” of the center and emergency repairs described in court filings by the center’s executive director, Matt Floca.

The Justice Department said in court documents Thursday that the duration of the closure will be for one week, “unless extended” to address safety hazards.

In a declaration submitted by the Justice Department prior to Cooper’s ruling, Floca said that “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration … necessitated a temporary closure of most public spaces in the main building.” In an email to Kennedy Center staff that was also submitted to the court, Floca said that any extensions of the closure would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

“To be clear, this is not a decision to effectuate the Board’s separate vote to close the building for renovation,” Floca wrote in the email. “It is a distinct decision by management to address imminent life-safety risks pending the Court’s ruling on that vote.”

Cooper on Thursday also denied a request from Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member who sued last year to halt Mr. Trump’s changes to the Kennedy Center, for an emergency hearing on what she called the “unlawful closure of the Kennedy Center.”

Beatty, in court documents filed Wednesday, argued, “Given the unexplained and unlawful closure, it is possible Defendants intend to undertake immediate steps in order to make public access practically impossible for the foreseeable future, including by demolishing public avenues of access to the building, and thereby evade the Court’s order by fait accompli.”

Beatty also noted in the filing that a witness said they saw a “forklift run into and hit the pillars on the building several times.”

Fencing was also erected around the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.

Roma Davari, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, told “Real America’s Voice” Wednesday night that “nothing is being demolished” and that people should ignore “the media that is saying that because no one has ever said that coming from the institution.”

Thursday’s ruling marks the latest in the ongoing fight over Mr. Trump’s vision for renovations to the performing arts center.

Cooper ruled Tuesday that Mr. Trump’s name cannot be put on the building, following a second attempt by the center’s board to add it, saying: “Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing. The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

Shortly afterward, the board, which is filled with allies of Mr. Trump’s, voted to close the center for renovations, a source said. Congress last year appropriated more than $250 million for the restoration. Cooper, who has been overseeing the case, must approve the board’s decision, but he has not yet determined whether the vote was lawful.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday night reiterated that if he were to raise money for the Kennedy Center’s restoration, his administration should be recognized — or the site’s future would be in question.

“So for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long term and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition,” Mr. Trump said. “Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down.”

On Air Force One Wednesday night, Mr. Trump could be seen looking at a document that said “Kennedy Center Demolished” as he was returning from a rally in North Carolina. The photo was entered as evidence in the emergency motion.