Trump seen reviewing Kennedy Center demolition plans amid name-change dispute

Photos taken aboard Air Force One show Donald Trump examining a booklet that appears to detail demolition of the Kennedy Center, captured just after his campaign stop for Senate hopeful Michael Whatley in North Carolina. The performing-arts venue’s board had voted to close the building for repairs, installing metal fences amid a pro-Trump majority and ongoing legal battles over Trump’s effort to rename the center after himself.

A legal filing from Rep. Joyce Beatty’s team reported a forklift striking the building’s pillars, fueling speculation that demolition may be planned, a notion first raised by the Department of Justice earlier this summer. Rep. Beatty has asked a judge for an emergency hearing, with Judge Christopher Cooper giving the center a deadline to respond. An internal email warned employees that the main hall is shut “effective immediately” for a week due to safety concerns, after a recent ceiling plaster fall that injured no one. Kennedy Center vice-president of public relations Roma Daravi told a TV program that the work is necessary and that opponents aim to block improvements that could credit Trump.