Kennedy Center may be torn down, Trump lawyers warn, if renovations dont take place to save it from its death spiral

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration threatened to tear down the Kennedy Center if plans to add President Trump’s name to the front of the building and also make extensive repairs are blocked. Without the president’s support, the Kennedy Center will need to be demolished and replaced with a new structure, lawyers for the Trump administration warned in a legal brief filed late Monday. And donors will flee — leaving the center in a “financial and structural death spiral” —  if they don’t see Trump properly honored with his name on the entrance of the building, they argued.“The Kennedy Center is in terrible trouble,” the brief warns.“The crisis is so acute that, without the Trump Administration, its people, and President Trump, the Center cannot survive, either structurally or financially.”The attorneys, led by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, outlined Trump’s support for construction repairs as well as his financial backing, which includes $258 million from Congress and millions of dollars from new donors.“Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down,” they note. The historic facility would likely be replaced with a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that “will fail to adequately honor President John F.

Kennedy, but would be simpler and more economical to build, operate, and maintain.”The Trump administration was filing its response to a lawsuit from Rep.Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to keep the president’s name off the building exterior and to stop a planned two-year closure for renovation work. “President Trump’s efforts and prestige provide the sole hope for the Center’s financial survival, and structural renewal,” the attorneys write.

Without it, “the Center will continue to be in a financial and structural death spiral,” they add.They also bash Beatty for bringing the suit, claiming that, as a Kenne...