John Thune says he would be “very, very surprised if that actually happened” on Trump’s Kennedy Center remarks
United States Senator for South Dakota and Senate Majority Leader, answering reporters’ questions on Capitol Hill
“I hope it’s, you know, designed to get people to come to the table and work something out on everything related to the Kennedy Center, including the name, but you know, I mean, I’d be very, very surprised if that actually happened.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
NBC live-blog item (structured data: published 2026-09-17 18:51 UTC, modified 21:39 UTC) that quotes Thune directly after “Thune said:”. NBC’s description of the question is NBC’s own paraphrase and not Thune’s words. No video or audio of the exchange was located, so the wording is NBC’s transcription; AP independently quotes the last clause and his second answer.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Independent AP reporting of the same remarks (page metadata: published 2026-09-17 21:15 UTC). AP quotes only the final clause of the sentence NBC quotes in full, and his answer on Congress; it does not carry the “come to the table” clause. The apnews.com original returned HTTP 403 to automated access, so the syndicated copy was read.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The previous evening, President Trump told reporters in Charlotte that the Trump administration “should certainly have recognition” and, in the same answer, used the phrase “ripped down” about the center; AFP photographs from that night showed him looking at a poster that appears to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.” On September 17 Thune was asked by reporters how concerned he was about the president’s remarks on the center, as NBC News described the question.
After the quotation
Asked whether Congress would try to stop it, Thune said “I hope we won’t get to that point.” The same day, Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to give at least 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building.
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 Truth Social post of 2026-09-15 and reaffirmed in his remarks to reporters in Charlotte on 2026-09-16. Thune says he hopes the president’s remarks are meant to bring people to the table on “everything related to the Kennedy Center, including the name,” and that he would be “very, very surprised if that actually happened,” which discounts the likelihood of the outcome named in the remarks without rejecting or endorsing the position. The closest competing label is challenges_characterization, since he offers a reading of the remarks as aimed at getting people to the table. That loses because he frames it as a hope rather than disputing how the remarks are described, and his operative point is that the outcome is unlikely, which downplays its likely consequence.
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Donald Trump's statements linking the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration
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