Donald Trump has been photographed aboard Air Force One examining a large document bearing three words guaranteed to intensify an already explosive fight over one of Washington’s most famous cultural institutions: “KENNEDY CENTER DEMOLISHED.”
The photographs, taken by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski as Trump returned to Joint Base Andrews Wednesday night following a campaign appearance in North Carolina, show the president looking through what appears to be a large presentation or document concerning the Kennedy Center.
And the timing could hardly be more striking.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump publicly raised the possibility that the Kennedy Center could eventually be “ripped down” as he discussed his administration’s involvement in the institution and argued that his administration should receive recognition for its work.
“If we don’t do that, it’s going to close,” Trump said. “It’ll end up being ripped down.”
Hours later came the Air Force One photographs.
The image has now become more than an unusual political photograph. It has entered the ongoing federal court battle over the future of the Kennedy Center.
According to CBS News, the photograph was submitted as evidence in an emergency motion connected to a lawsuit brought by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board who has challenged Trump’s changes to the institution.
The legal confrontation has intensified rapidly.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Trump’s name could not be added to the Kennedy Center building. Shortly afterward, the center’s board — which includes Trump allies — voted to close the institution for renovations.
Congress has already appropriated more than $250 million for restoration work at the Kennedy Center.
But exactly what happens to the building has become a matter of increasingly intense dispute.
The Justice Department told the court Thursday that the current closure is expected to last one week, unless safety conditions require it to be extended.
Kennedy Center executive director Matt Floca said the temporary shutdown was prompted by what he described as immediate public-safety concerns caused by structural deterioration. He also distinguished the temporary closure from the board’s separate renovation proposal.
The Kennedy Center itself is strongly denying that demolition is underway.
Roma Davari, the center’s vice president of public relations, said Wednesday night that “nothing is being demolished” and urged people not to believe reports suggesting otherwise.
That denial makes the Air Force One photograph even more intriguing — but the image alone does not establish that Trump has approved a plan to demolish the building.
It does, however, add another remarkable piece of evidence to a controversy that was already moving quickly through federal court.
Beatty’s latest filing also included a witness declaration alleging that a forklift had struck pillars at the Kennedy Center. The witness stated under penalty of perjury that he had observed the incident.
Meanwhile, fencing has gone up around the building as the fight over its immediate future continues.
The controversy carries particular historical weight because the Kennedy Center is not simply another federal building. Opened in 1971, it serves as the nation’s official living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
Trump has taken an unusually direct role in reshaping the institution during his second term, including serving as chairman of its board.
Now, following a court order concerning his name, a board vote over the building’s future, his own comments about the possibility of it being “ripped down,” and a photograph showing him studying a document marked “KENNEDY CENTER DEMOLISHED,” the battle has entered yet another phase.
What exactly the document Trump was examining represents — and whether it reflects any actual proposal for the building — remains unclear.
But one thing is no longer in dispute: the photograph exists, it has entered the federal court fight, and the words visible on the page are certain to fuel even more questions about what Trump intends to do with the Kennedy Center.
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