Adam Schiff says that if Trump can't put his name on the Kennedy Center, "he is willing to close it or destroy it"
Adam SchiffU.S. Senator from California, in a quote-post on his official X account (@SenAdamSchiff)
In a quote-post of a journalist's photograph of Trump looking at a placard about the Kennedy Center, Schiff says that if the President cannot put his name on the Kennedy Center 'he is willing to close it or destroy it,' and that Trump cares more about branding institutions than preserving them. He adds that Congress allocated $257 million to repair the building and should insist the work be done properly.
“If the President can't put his name on it, he is willing to close it or destroy it. He cares more about branding our institutions than preserving them. Congress allocated $257 million to repair the Kennedy Center. It should insist that work be done properly.”
Original post
Original text
Official statement
Reporting
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Donald Trump link the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration?
On September 15, 2026, a federal judge barred the Kennedy Center board, chaired by Donald Trump, from inscribing "renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump" on its main building or renaming the grounds for him. The board then voted to close the main building, and Trump posted that renovation "cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name" and "will not take place" if that ruling is negative and not overturned. In Charlotte on September 16 he said the administration "should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down." The White House says the center will "inevitably continue to decline" without his intervention; Rep. Joyce Beatty's lawyers wrote that Trump said "if he is not recognized on the building, it will close and be ripped down." The dispute is over whether the renovation should depend on recognition for Trump's administration and what his remarks mean.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Schiff's own post on the X account his Senate site lists, a quote-post of Aaron Rupar's post of an AFP/Getty photograph by Brendan Smialowski; it is not a reply. The post shows no edits. We did not save an archive copy of the post.
Original text
About this source
Court docket as mirrored by CourtListener (RECAP). The minute order denies the emergency hearing (ECF 84), requires a sworn status report by 2026-09-23, orders written notice more than 30 days before any change to the scope of the project plans including any 'demolition' of the main building, and allows discovery on ECF 85. The docket gives dates but no clock times. ECF 88 is the defendants' motion to vacate or dissolve the 2026-05-29 preliminary injunction; ECF 89 is their motion for partial summary judgment.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
Official Senate press release dated September 17, 2026 (published 2026-09-18 02:31 UTC, 10:31 PM ET on 9/17). It describes a separate statement, Schiff's MS NOW interview, and is cited only for that context sentence; its description of Trump's position as 'threatening to tear down' the building is the office's wording and is not adopted.
Reporting
About this source
News report (published 2026-09-17 18:28 UTC, modified 20:12 UTC). Used only for the context sentences: where Trump made his 2026-09-16 remark, the photograph and its partly obscured wording, and the court order. The outlet's own framing of the remark is not adopted.
Reporting
About this source
AP story republished by PBS News (published 2026-09-17 at 3:38 PM EDT). Used only to show the order had been reported by 3:38 PM ET, before this 5:32 PM ET post; the docket gives no clock time for the order.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
AP story (published 2026-09-18 22:12 UTC), cited at the WSLS syndicated copy. Used only for the context sentence about Trump's Oval Office exchange; AP's wording 'as he's threatened to do' is not adopted. We have not reviewed video of the exchange itself.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
On the evening of 2026-09-16 President Trump told reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, that the Trump administration should have recognition and spoke of the Kennedy Center closing and ending up 'ripped down'. The post Schiff quoted is journalist Aaron Rupar's post of AFP photographs from Trump's flight home that night, one showing him apparently looking at a placard bearing the words 'Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED', with the final letters obscured. On 2026-09-17, before this post, Judge Christopher Cooper issued a minute order that denied Rep. Joyce Beatty's request for an emergency hearing and required the defendants to give written notice more than 30 days before implementing any change to the scope of the project plans, including any 'demolition' of the main building.
After the quotation
Schiff's Senate office later published a press release, dated 2026-09-17, on his appearance on MS NOW's All In with Chris Hayes about the Kennedy Center. On 2026-09-18 the defendants moved to vacate or dissolve the court's May 29 preliminary injunction, and the Associated Press reported that Trump did not directly respond when asked in the Oval Office whether he planned to demolish the building.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Schiff's own words say that if the President cannot put his name on the building he is 'willing to close it or destroy it' and that he 'cares more about branding our institutions than preserving them', which criticizes making the building's fate depend on his name. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, because the post ends by urging Congress to insist that the $257 million repair work be done properly. That loses because the urging is a remedy aimed at the conduct Schiff criticizes, not a materially different position on the recognition condition.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Donald Trump
More from this case
Read the full caseSheldon Whitehouse says Trump appointees' conduct is hard to square with the board's fiduciary duty
“Not easy to see how any of this behavior of Trump appointees comports with the board’s fiduciary duty to the Center.”Read statement
Dechicchis criticizes putting recognition ahead of improvements
“In Trump’s mind, if he doesn’t get the recognition he feels he deserves, there’s no point in continuing improvements on the center.”Read statement
Kerry Kennedy says Congress already funded the Kennedy Center's restoration and tells Trump "That's not your job"
“this is the memorial created by the United States Congress to a slain president. So, putting Trump's name on it would be like renaming the Washington Monument the Trump Washington Monument or the Trump Lincoln Memorial or the Trump Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. ... And their argument is they're not -- there is not money for it. But in the Big Beautiful Bill, they -- the Congress passed $246 million in order to restore the Kennedy Center. So that's just not true. ... So President Trump, do your job. Focus on the people's pain and the work that you're supposed to do in the -- in the Oval Office and not on the Kennedy Center. That's not your job.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Adam Schiff says that if Trump can't put his name on the Kennedy Center, "he is willing to close it or destroy it"
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1180-in-a-quote-post-of-a-journalist-s
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Adam Schiff says that if Trump can't put his name on the Kennedy Center, "he is willing to close it or destroy it"". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1180-in-a-quote-post-of-a-journalist-s