Jeffries says Democrats will stop the president from "another vanity project" at the Kennedy Center
House Democratic Leader and U.S. Representative for New York's 8th congressional district, answering a reporter's question at a House Democratic leadership press conference in Washington
“I'm confident that one way or the other, whether it's legislatively or whether it's legally in the courts, we're going to stop the president from another vanity project and waste of taxpayer resources in the context of the Kennedy Center.”
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Full livestream of the House Democratic leadership press availability (Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar) on the Rep. Jeffries YouTube channel, linked from the Democratic Leader's 2026-09-17 press release. YouTube shows the stream starting 14:36 UTC (10:36 AM ET) on 2026-09-17; the 2026-09-18 upload date is when the archive was processed. Audio downloaded and transcribed with mlx-whisper (large-v3-turbo). The reporter is not identified on the recording, and Jeffries's press release does not cover this exchange.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original video
About this source
C-SPAN's excerpt of the same exchange, uploaded 2026-09-17 15:33 UTC. C-SPAN's event page (c-span.org/event/news-conference/house-democratic-leaders-hold-briefing-47-days-ahead-of-midterm-elections/447229) dates the full event 2026-09-17 and describes lawmakers leaving town early to campaign; the clip description quotes the same sentence. Audio independently downloaded and transcribed.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
News report published 2026-09-17 18:28 UTC. Quotes the same clause from Jeffries and supplies the context on the photograph and the court order; used to corroborate and date the exchange, not as the basis of the quotation. Its description of Jeffries as having 'criticised the plans' is the reporter's characterization.
Before the quotation
The exchange came at a House Democratic leadership press conference as lawmakers left Washington early to campaign ahead of the midterm elections. A widely circulated photograph showed President Trump aboard Air Force One apparently looking at a placard bearing the words 'Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED' (the Guardian reported that the image does not establish that demolition was being planned), and Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, had submitted it to the court and sought an emergency hearing.
After the quotation
The same day, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper rejected Beatty's request for an emergency hearing but ordered the administration to give at least 30 days' notice before taking any steps toward demolition.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Donald Trump's statements linking the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case's fixed reference point is President Trump's stated position that the Kennedy Center's closure and renovation depend on recognition for his administration, as expressed in his September 15 Truth Social post and reaffirmed on September 16. Asked on September 17 about a photograph suggesting the center could be demolished, Jeffries called the president's Kennedy Center effort 'another vanity project and waste of taxpayer resources' and said Democrats would stop it legislatively or in the courts, which criticizes and opposes the course the reference point describes. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional, because he frames stopping the project as depending on a legislative or judicial route ('one way or the other'). That loses because the condition concerns the means, not whether the project is acceptable, and his evaluation of it is uniformly critical.
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Donald Trump's statements linking the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration
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More from this case
Read the full case“I keep wondering how insecure, how narcissistic, how egomaniacal you have to be to say you'll demolish a building if they don't put your name on it.”Read statement
“Donald Trump has spent countless hours on ridiculous vanity projects instead of trying to tackle the sky-high cost of living or ending his failed war in Iran, and now he's threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center just because he can't slap his name on it. It's sad, shallow, and a disgrace to the institution which by law honors our 35th president. We will continue fighting this obsession and defend this national cultural center in Congress and the courts”Read statement
“I don't mind doing the job, but if I do the job, I think the Trump administration, including Bobby, but the Trump administration should be recognized. Why should I raise and put up and do all of this work?”Read statement