Donald Trump had plenty to say when reporters asked him about his escalating battle over the Kennedy Center.
Then came one simple follow-up question.
Trump didn’t answer.
He walked away.
The exchange unfolded Wednesday on the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Trump was speaking to reporters ahead of a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley.
Trump was asked why it was so important to him to have his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
He responded at length.
Trump argued that the Kennedy Center had been losing enormous amounts of money and said his administration deserved recognition for stepping in to help the institution.
“The Kennedy Center, for many years, has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars,” Trump said.
Trump argued that his administration’s involvement in the institution’s future justified putting his name on it.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition,” he said.
He also warned that the center could eventually close without the financial support and renovation efforts he says his administration is helping provide.
“If we don’t do that, it’s going to close,” Trump said. “It’ll end up being ripped down.”
Trump continued moving toward his waiting vehicle.
That’s when a reporter called out a much shorter question.
“Why does it have to have your name though, sir?”
Trump did not answer.
Video of the exchange shows the president continuing toward the black vehicle and getting into the back seat.
The moment lasted only seconds.
But it went directly to the central question in an increasingly bitter fight over one of Washington’s most famous cultural institutions.
Trump has repeatedly pushed for his name to be associated with the Kennedy Center, arguing that his administration deserves recognition for helping secure the money needed to repair and preserve the aging building.
A federal judge, however, has blocked efforts to restore Trump’s name to the building.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper has ruled that renaming the institution requires congressional authorization.
The Kennedy Center’s Trump-aligned board subsequently voted to close most of the building for renovations after the latest court ruling prevented Trump’s name from being returned to the facade.
The controversy has only intensified since Trump’s exchange with the reporter.
Trump was later photographed aboard Air Force One examining a large placard containing the visible words “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS…”
The photograph did not establish that a final demolition plan had been approved.
But it added to concerns over what Trump and the Kennedy Center leadership ultimately intend to do with the building.
Judge Cooper subsequently ordered the administration to provide at least 30 days’ notice before taking steps toward demolishing the Kennedy Center.
Trump has since declined to definitively say whether the building will eventually be torn down.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, he once again defended his desire for recognition and described the Kennedy Center as being in terrible condition.
“The place is a dump,” Trump said.
He maintained that his administration could save the institution and again argued that it deserved credit for doing so.
Trump even suggested that pairing his name with Kennedy’s could symbolize bipartisanship.
But none of those subsequent explanations answered the much simpler question shouted at him on the Charlotte tarmac.
Why does it have to have Trump’s name?
Trump had already spent considerable time explaining why he believes his administration deserves recognition.
When the reporter asked that follow-up, however, he offered no response.
He got into the car and left.
About the Author
Donald Chump has to have his name on The Kennedy Center because has a Colossal Ego. If The Kennedy Center is in bad shape today it is because Trump has been belittling it denigrating it and defaming those who have performed there for years since he became The President. Now he wants to destroy it completely and build a Performing Arts Center in its place with HIS NAME ONLY on it. Amen?