\u201cKennedy Center<\/a> is an old and decrepit building that is badly in need of a major construction and public relations fix before it can attain greatness and prestige, perhaps far greater than ever before,\u201d the president wrote<\/a> in one post on Sunday night. \u201cIt has been losing a fortune for many years, and will continue to do so if the highly conflicted judge on the case doesn\u2019t allow us to do what has to be done!\u201d<\/p>\n A federal judge will determine whether the Trump-dominated Kennedy Center board<\/a> violated court orders by approving an inscription to the building that it has been \u201crenovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump.\u201d The board voted for the change despite a court ruling in May that the performing arts venue cannot be renamed without congressional approval.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio Kennedy Center board member<\/a>, argued<\/a> this week the new plan is an end-run around the May decision and a \u201cbreathtaking assault on the rule of law\u201d meant to cover for the financial chaos caused by the president\u2019s takeover, which has prompted a string of artist cancelations and a reported<\/a> slowdown in ticket sales. <\/p>\n The Trump administration, meanwhile, argues the building is in dire need of renovation, to the point that it could someday need to be torn down unless the build plan moves forward. <\/p>\n \u201cThe concept of, if the building is not properly renovated and restored, eventually it falls into a state of disrepair and it cannot be used,\u201d Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said outside the court on Thursday. \u201cIt\u2019ll just run out of money \u2026 and over time it\u2019ll just go down and down and down, until at some point, a building that was built in 1964 that isn’t renovated does eventually get torn down.\u201d<\/p>\n The president\u2019s projects on the National Mall, meanwhile, have been no less fraught, as Trump acknowledged in his Sunday posting spree. <\/p>\n \u201cLook what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAnybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn\u2019t vandalized should go back to Law School!\u201d<\/p>\n He posted an image that appeared to show \u201c86 47\u201d in the lawn.<\/p>\n \u201cThe grass is being replaced shortly, and the Reflecting Pool is almost completely fixed, including the various inflow and outflow pipes, which we were saving for the end of the year, but will do now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The president has insisted vandals were behind peels and cracks in the newly refinished Reflecting Pool, which has had to be drained multiple times since the president took over fixing it. <\/p>\n But administration officials have admitted that the damage was likely from poor construction, forcing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to drop<\/a> a high-profile case against a former Olympian after finding that the damage was \u201cthe result of flawed installation by the contractor.\u201d<\/p>\n The result infuriated Trump, who has openly attacked D.C.\u2019s top prosecutor over the decision.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Pirro called on the judge overseeing the case <\/a>to leave open the possibility of new charges against David Hearn, who had pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing prior to the dismissal of charges. <\/p>\n Vandals indeed appeared to target the grass nearby, where the apparent anti-Trump slogan \u201c86 47\u201d was found inscribed in dead grass in July.<\/p>\n The patch of grass was also the site of the president\u2019s Great American State Fair in July, which saw thousands of visitors at the site across two weeks of events. <\/p>\n On Thursday, a woman was indicted<\/a> on two felony counts for allegedly spray painting another nearby monument, the WWII Memorial.<\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2291733692.jpeg\")
President Donald Trump sounded off on Truth Social on August 30 about his ongoing attempt to rename the Kennedy Center and renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788155420_796_download...jpeg\")
The Reflecting Pool is still not operational, while the Kennedy Center project is locked in a legal battle with a congresswoman challenging the president\u2019s plan to rename the arts complex after himself (AP)<\/p>\n