Kennedy Center ceiling collapse renews calls for Trump-led renovations

A piece of the Kennedy Center’s ceiling collapsed, sparking renewed calls to allow President Donald Trump’s renovations at the historic performing arts center to go forward.

The damage occurred in the building’s Grand Foyer following heavy rainfall in the nation’s capital, the center said in a statement on Saturday. No one was injured.

Photos show the room’s red carpet coated in debris as well as a large, round hole in the white ceiling.

The Kennedy Center described the issue as “another warning we can’t ignore,” adding that “decades of deferred maintenance made this inevitable.”

“President Trump has been right: America’s cultural center needs to close, renovate, and be restored—now,” the organization added.

The center’s board is currently locked in a long-running legal battle over its plan to shutter the venue for two years while it undergoes $250 million in renovations — and to add Donald Trump’s name to the building’s facade.

The center — whose board is dominated by Trump loyalists and chaired by the president himself — says the overhaul will include repairs to plumbing and electrical systems, along with new seating and carpeting.

Administration officials have warned the institution could face “financial ruin” unless Trump’s name is added.

However, confidential documents acquired by the Washington Post last month suggested the Kennedy Center had gone into financial meltdown since Trump’s involvement began and he put his name on the front of the building.

Meanwhile, employees have questioned the need for a two-year shutdown, noting the center has previously completed repairs while remaining open and continuing to host performances, according to The Washington Post. One unnamed staffer described the move as a “self-inflicted crisis.” Meanwhile, Democrats have denounced Trump’s effort to attach his name to the venue as a vanity project.

After the ceiling collapse, the main building closed briefly on Friday and was expected to reopen Saturday, per WUSA9. The Grand Foyer will remain off limits to visitors through the weekend.

Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations, told the outlet the incident highlights the need for repair work.

“Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed,” Daravi said. “There's no justification for further delays in restoring America's cultural center.”

Trump’s appointees originally voted to rename the building – a living memorial to the assassinated President John F. Kennedy – as “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” A judge ordered Trump to remove his own name.

However, the center is now planning to add his name in a different context by putting the phrase “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” directly under Kennedy’s name.