Trump Says Kennedy Center Renovation to Include New Carrier AC

Feb. 2, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

President Donald Trump defended his plan to shut down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for two years, calling it necessary to complete a $200 million renovation that includes the installation of a new Carrier Global Corp. air conditioning system.

“It’s in very bad shape. It’s run down. It’s dilapidated, sort of dangerous,” Trump told reporters on Monday at the White House.

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 2.
Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg

Trump said his proposal does not call for a complete tear-down of the existing building, which opened in 1971 as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, but suggested the ...

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