Trump Says Kennedy Center Could Be ‘Ripped Down’ as Fencing Goes Up Around the Main Building

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could close or be “ripped down” if his administration does not receive recognition at the venue, escalating a standoff that has now spilled onto the building’s front plaza – as reported by News.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac in North Carolina, Trump argued that his administration deserves acknowledgment at the center and warned that without it the institution would shut its doors and eventually come down, News reported. He also characterized the center as poorly run before he became involved, claimed it had lost tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars, and contrasted it with New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Hours later, the threat took physical shape. Fencing went up around the main building on Wednesday, blocking the entrance and cutting off both vehicle and pedestrian access, according to the Associated Press. A security guard turned away an AP reporter who approached the building and said it was closed, and workers on site said they had been instructed to install the barriers. The fencing joins the tarp and scaffolding that have covered the facade since crews removed Trump’s name in June under an earlier court order.

The closure followed a ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who barred the Trump-appointed board from inscribing a tribute to the president on the building or renaming its grounds for him, finding that such a change requires authorization from Congress. About an hour after the decision came down, the board voted to shut the main building immediately for renovations, pointing to safety concerns after a section of plaster fell from the grand foyer ceiling during a rainstorm earlier this month.

Trump has said the repairs will not begin, and the building will not reopen, until an appeals court or the Supreme Court permits his name to be restored. Congress appropriated $257 million for the renovation last year.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex officio member of the board who has led the legal fight over the name, filed a motion Wednesday asking Cooper for an emergency hearing, calling the shutdown unlawful and arguing that it violates the judge’s standing order barring closure without his approval. Her attorneys said a member of her legal team was denied entry to the building that morning and raised concerns that construction could eliminate public access for the foreseeable future. Cooper ordered the administration and the board to respond by 10 a.m. Thursday and said he would schedule a prompt hearing if warranted.

The main building houses the Opera House, the Concert Hall and the Eisenhower Theater, the stages that carry the center’s touring Broadway engagements, opera, ballet and National Symphony Orchestra programming.