John Thune says he would be “very, very surprised if that actually happened” on Trump’s Kennedy Center remarks
John ThuneUnited States Senator for South Dakota and Senate Majority Leader, answering reporters’ questions on Capitol Hill
Asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill how concerned he was about the president’s remarks on the Kennedy Center, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hoped they were “designed to get people to come to the table and work something out on everything related to the Kennedy Center, including the name,” and that he would be “very, very surprised if that actually happened.” Asked whether Congress would try to stop it, he said “I hope we won’t get to that point.”
“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.”
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
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 recording; 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 (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. Cited at a syndicated copy of the AP story.
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
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
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 “Challenged the 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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“Not easy to see how any of this behavior of Trump appointees comports with the board’s fiduciary duty to the Center.”Read statement
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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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The Dispute Index. "John Thune says he would be “very, very surprised if that actually happened” on Trump’s Kennedy Center remarks". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1190-asked-by-a-reporter-on-capitol-hill-how