Trump Screamed and Threw ‘Crazy’ Tantrum During Vote to Close Kennedy Center: Report
Trump Screamed and Threw ‘Crazy’ Tantrum During Vote to Close Kennedy Center: Report
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The fight over the Kennedy Center took an explosive turn Tuesday — and according to Rep. Joyce Beatty, President Donald Trump was furious when the latest court ruling went against him.
Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, says Trump joined the board meeting virtually and spent several minutes yelling, criticizing her and calling her names.
Then the board voted to close the Kennedy Center’s main building.
The timing was striking.
Just hours earlier, a federal judge had blocked the board from restoring Trump’s name to the building’s facade, ruling that such a change requires approval from Congress.
Now, the dispute has moved far beyond a fight over a name.
“He Threw a Tantrum”
Beatty offered the most dramatic account of the meeting after it ended.
Speaking to CNN and other outlets, she characterized Trump’s behavior as a tantrum, saying he was yelling and raising his voice during the virtual meeting.
The Independent reported that Beatty said Trump spent nearly 10 minutes of the hourlong meeting “screaming and hollering” and called her “dumb” and an “obstructionist.”
People reported that a source familiar with the exchange described the back-and-forth as “f---ing crazy.”
Beatty said she would not use that language herself, but said she understood why someone witnessing the exchange might describe it that way.
Her account, however, is a description from one participant in the dispute. The White House has offered a sharply different characterization of the broader conflict.
A White House spokesperson accused Democrats of allowing the Kennedy Center to deteriorate for years and said Trump had stepped in to address the problems.
That leaves two sharply different narratives surrounding the same meeting.
What Set Trump Off?
The immediate trigger was a court ruling.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled Tuesday that the Kennedy Center board could not install memorials or add Trump's name without congressional approval.
The judge pointed to the 1964 law establishing the Kennedy Center as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
That ruling came after months of controversy surrounding Trump's effort to put his name on the building.
Trump had argued that his involvement was essential to raising money and completing major renovations.
But the court rejected the idea that the board could simply change the institution's memorial designation on its own.
And the timing could hardly have been more consequential.
Within hours, the Trump-controlled board voted to close the center's main building.
Then Came the Shutdown Vote
The board said the closure was necessary for safety reasons and to begin a major reconstruction effort.
Trump announced that the building would close immediately.
He also warned that the planned renovation would not proceed unless the court ruling blocking his name was overturned.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the board had voted “almost unanimously” to close the building and claimed that the renovation could not begin until the legal dispute over the name was resolved.
The proposed renovation has been described as a roughly $257 million project.
Congress had already appropriated more than $250 million for Kennedy Center renovations in 2025.
That has made one question unavoidable:
Why should a renovation project depend on whether Trump's name appears on the building?
Trump and his allies have argued that the Kennedy Center faces serious financial and structural problems and that the institution needs a major overhaul.
Critics of the administration dispute aspects of that explanation and have challenged the board's authority to close the center.
Trump Says the Building Is in Serious Trouble
Trump has repeatedly pointed to deteriorating conditions inside the Kennedy Center.
He has referenced a recent ceiling collapse and warned that people could have been killed if the building had been occupied when debris fell.
In one Truth Social post, Trump said a security guard had passed the area shortly before the collapse and described the person as being seconds away from “certain death.”
The Kennedy Center has indeed experienced infrastructure problems, including a ceiling collapse in the Grand Foyer.
But the dispute is over what those problems mean — and whether they justify the board's decision to shut the building.
Beatty's legal team has argued that the safety assessments cited by the board did not establish that the entire building was unsafe for continued occupancy.
The Name Fight Is Still at the Center of Everything
The Kennedy Center was created as a national cultural memorial to John F. Kennedy.
Trump became chairman of its board in 2025 after replacing the previous board with his own selections.
His administration then pursued changes that would place his name on the institution.
A previous attempt to add Trump's name was blocked, and the lettering was removed from the building in June.
The board later voted to pursue another form of recognition for Trump, including proposed inscriptions connected to renovations and fundraising.
Judge Cooper's latest ruling rejected that effort without congressional authorization.
Trump, meanwhile, has made clear that he does not intend to simply walk away from the dispute.
He has said the renovation will not proceed if the courts ultimately prevent the name change.
A Political and Legal Fight Now Over a Cultural Institution
The Kennedy Center controversy has therefore developed into three overlapping battles.
There is the legal battle over who has authority to change the name of a congressionally designated memorial.
There is the financial and infrastructure battle over how the institution should be renovated and funded.
And there is now an increasingly personal political battle between Trump and lawmakers challenging his control of the center.
Beatty has become one of the most visible opponents of the administration's approach.
According to her account, that conflict exploded during Tuesday's board meeting.
She said Trump told her he would hold her personally responsible if deteriorating conditions resulted in someone's death.
Beatty responded by challenging his criticism and pointing to other national issues.
The White House, meanwhile, has accused Beatty and other Democrats of opposing Trump's efforts to restore the Kennedy Center.
What Happens to the Kennedy Center Now?
The immediate future of the building remains tied to the courts.
The board has voted for closure, while Beatty and her attorneys argue that previous court orders may prevent the center from being shut down.
The legal fight is therefore far from finished.
Trump has also signaled that he is prepared to continue fighting the naming dispute.
That creates an extraordinary situation for one of America's most prominent performing-arts institutions.
A building created as a memorial to one president is now at the center of a legal battle involving another president's name.
And the dispute is no longer confined to the courtroom.
According to Beatty, it erupted inside the boardroom as well.
Whether her description of Trump's behavior becomes a defining part of the Kennedy Center controversy will depend on how the competing accounts of that meeting develop.
But the sequence of events is already clear:
A federal judge blocked the name change. Trump reacted angrily, according to a Democratic board member. The board then voted to close the building. And the fight over the Kennedy Center has entered an even more consequential phase.
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The question now is not simply what name will appear on the building.
It is whether the Kennedy Center can reopen without the legal, political and financial battles that forced it to close in the first place.
