onald Trump wants to destroy the Kennedy Center, calling the performance hall a "dump." Never before has a president pursued such a relentless campaign – which has lasted almost two years – against a cultural venue, to the point of forcing it to close its doors on September 15, with its future left uncertain. The venue was never a hotbed of protest. To understand this, one must look at its audience, and realize that this tragedy serves as a warning for Europe.

Trump despises Washington and its nearly 700,000 residents, who vote almost 90% of the time for Democratic candidates. So he spends weekends playing golf in Florida. But simply abandoning the federal capital has not been enough for him. He seeks to punish its residents, who largely identify with the moderate left, who are eager consumers of culture and who regularly attend the Kennedy Center, especially given it is the city's only major performance hall.

Above all, it is a unique place in the United States, both in size and scope, with six halls and three stages (a total of 7,200 seats) covering a wide spectrum of performing arts: opera, classical concerts, contemporary music, jazz or country, musicals, theater, dance. No fewer than 2,000 events take place there every year, some free of charge, in this vast white marble complex along the Potomac River. In French terms, it is as if the Opéra de Paris, the Philharmonie, the Théâtre de l'Odéon and the Olympia were all brought together on one site. Demonstration against the closure of the Kennedy Center in Washington, September 18, 2026. You have 75.11% of this article left to read. The rest is forrs only.