Jamie Raskin calls closing the Kennedy Center "an affront to President Kennedy's memory" and demands it remain open
Jamie RaskinU.S. Representative from Maryland, in a quote-post on his official X account (@RepRaskin)
In a post quoting an Associated Press report that fencing had gone up around the main Kennedy Center building after the board voted to close it, Raskin calls closing the center an affront to President Kennedy's memory, an attack on Congressional power and an assault on the livelihoods of the artists and workers who operate and perform there. He adds, 'We're demanding it remain open and free from the President's graffiti, vandalism and desecration.'
“Closing the Kennedy Center is an affront to President Kennedy's memory, an attack on Congressional power and an outrageous assault on the livelihoods of the artists and workers who operate and perform in our cultural center. We're demanding it remain open and free from the President’s graffiti, vandalism and desecration.”
Original post
Original text
Original text
Original text
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
Raskin's own post on the X account his House site lists, a quote-post of the Associated Press post about the fencing; 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
Same words posted about 90 seconds after the X post on a Substack account named 'Rep. Jamie Raskin (@repraskin)': the page names that author and carries identical text. Whether raskin.house.gov links this Substack account was not checked, so the X post is the primary source and this is corroboration.
Original text
About this source
Cited from the trumpstruth.org archive, which records the original post ID, URL (truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117276573235915643) and time. We could not read the original post on Truth Social. The same text is quoted and screenshotted in Beatty's notice at ECF 78. The word recognition does not appear in the post.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)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, and orders written notice more than 30 days before any change to the scope of the project plans including any 'demolition' of the main building. The docket gives dates but no clock times.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
The AP story whose X post Raskin quoted (card title matches this headline), cited at the WSLS syndicated copy published 2026-09-16 16:47 UTC. Used for the fencing, Beatty's emergency-hearing request and Trump's chairmanship of the board; AP's 'Trump-aligned' description of the board is not adopted.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
News report (published 2026-09-17 18:28 UTC, modified 20:12 UTC). Used only for the context sentences: Cooper's 2026-09-15 naming ruling, where Trump made his 2026-09-16 remark, and the 2026-09-17 order. The outlet's own framing of the remark is not adopted.
Before the quotation
On 2026-09-15 Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center could not put Trump's name on its exterior without congressional approval, and the board, which Trump chairs, voted to close the center. At 2:54 PM ET that day Trump posted on Truth Social that the closing would take place immediately and that if the D.C. Circuit's ruling on the board's approved name is negative and not overturned, the renovation 'will not take place'. On 2026-09-16 the Associated Press reported that fencing had gone up around the main building, and Rep. Joyce Beatty asked the court for an emergency hearing on what she called an 'unlawful closure'; Raskin's post quotes the AP report.
After the quotation
That evening 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'. On 2026-09-17 Judge Cooper denied 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.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Raskin's own words call closing the center 'an affront to President Kennedy's memory' and demand that it 'remain open and free from the President's graffiti, vandalism and desecration', which rejects the closure and condemns the President's conduct toward the building without mentioning recognition by name. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, because part of the post recasts the President's conduct in its own labels. That loses because the passage goes on to express a clearer substantive condemnation of the closure, which the label guide places under condemns.
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- 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
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- Jamie Raskin calls closing the Kennedy Center "an affront to President Kennedy's memory" and demands it remain open
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The Dispute Index. "Jamie Raskin calls closing the Kennedy Center "an affront to President Kennedy's memory" and demands it remain open". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1181-in-a-post-quoting-an-associated-press-report