Scoop: A federal judge halted plans to close the Kennedy Center for two years. Now the board is set to vote again next week — and trustee Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says leaders still haven't given trustees any analysis of what a shutdown would do to the venue. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Kennedy Center board lacks materials needed for closure vote, senator says

The trustees are set to vote next week on a two-year closure, but some say they've received no new assessments of the potential effects on the performing arts center.

washingtonpost.com

New column from @philipkennicott.bsky.social: the Trump administration's warning signs outside the Smithsonian's American history museum may be laughable — but they shouldn't be laughed off. They're "the markers of authoritarianism, the signs of a culture war" www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Column | I’ve visited the Smithsonian hundreds of times. Warnings aren’t needed.

An executive order from President Donald Trump may be laughable, but it shouldn’t be laughed off.

washingtonpost.com

Historians say there’s no precedent for it: Trump ordering signs installed outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History warning of “inaccurate” information while offering a competing government narrative of American history. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Trump orders warning signs near Smithsonian, escalating fight over history

The president’s executive order calls for signage near the National Museum of American History cautioning visitors about “inaccurate information.”

washingtonpost.com

Trump on Friday ordered signs be installed outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History that warn of "inaccurate" exhibits + point to "accurate information regarding America's history," a dramatic escalation in his fight w the Smithsonian www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Trump orders warning signs near Smithsonian, escalating fight over history

President Trump issued an executive order Friday to install signage and exhibits near the National Museum of American History, warning visitors of "inaccurate information."

washingtonpost.com

The Kennedy Center cut Whitney Cummings's Trump-Epstein joke from the Netflix broadcast of last month's Mark Twain Prize ceremony. Onstage, the comedian said she'd been told not to tell it — and told it anyway. From Elahe Izadi. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Comedian’s Trump joke at Kennedy Center show was cut from Netflix special

Whitney Cummings said she was told that her biting joke at the Mark Twain Prize ceremony would be cut from the special, released this week.

washingtonpost.com

I just got out of a congressional hearing focused on the White House's "Saving America's Story" report attacking the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Two narratives emerged. (1/6)

Exclusive: White House officials secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500M for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an arrangement sidestepping typical contracting procedures designed to control costs From Sarah Blaskey + Jonathan O'Connell www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom

The White House routed a $500 million no-bid contract through a White House office that typically handles repairs and furnishings and is exempt from competitive bidding requirements.

washingtonpost.com

“Freedom Trucks” highlight America’s founding principles and triumphs — but omit much of the nation’s darker past, fueling debate over how history should be taught. From @laurameckler.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Trump-backed ‘Freedom Trucks’ tell a sanitized story of the country’s founding

At a time of fierce debate over how to teach American history, the mobile exhibits weigh in squarely on one side of the argument.

washingtonpost.com

President Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center, but on Sunday night, he was all anyone at the performing arts venue could talk about. And Trump* tried to steal Bill Maher's comedy prize, claiming he is funnier than the longtime comedian! *See story :) www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

At the Kennedy Center, a prize for Bill Maher — and a lot of Trump jokes

The Twain Prize show’s guests included Louis C.K., Jay Leno and Woody Harrelson. But the president was the target of nearly every star who spoke.

washingtonpost.com

I’m at the Kennedy Center covering the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Celebrities are about to walk the red carpet. To do so, they’ll have to go past the tarp tower covering the evidence that President Donald Trump’s name has been removed from the center’s exterior.

The Great American State Fair "felt like a trade show for Christian groups, tourist boards and the military industrial complex." @philipkennicott.bsky.social's take on "a crushingly dull simulacrum of a simulacrum of America" www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Column | The Great American State Fair feels rushed, simulated and oddly sterile

The administration’s signature 250th celebration is strangely short on nostalgia — and long on defense contractors and “Fox & Friends.”

washingtonpost.com

A federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to explain why tarp-covered scaffolding still blocks the spot where Trump's name appeared on the building, 11 days after crews removed it. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Judge asks the Kennedy Center to explain tarps covering the building

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also pressed the center to answer the core question about its future: Will it stay open during two years of renovations?

washingtonpost.com

“This is the picture the Trump administration does not want anyone to see, so it’s all the more important … that people have an opportunity to witness when they’re winning,” said Mallory Miller, co-founder of Hands Off the Arts. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

New photos show first look at Kennedy Center facade without Trump’s name

The images were taken from inside the tarp-covered scaffolding that has blocked the public’s view for more than a week.

washingtonpost.com

EXCLUSIVE: New photos offer the first public look at the Kennedy Center's facade since crews took down President Trump's name. The images were shot from inside the tarp-covered scaffolding that's hidden the building for nine days. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

In a court filing late Friday, the Kennedy Center said it will stay open past July 5 — the date it had planned to close for two years — but punted any real decisions on closure, programming and staffing to its board, which is set to meet in mid-July. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Kennedy Center says it will stay open for now, but is not booking new shows

The center provided its first detailed response to a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the two-year shutdown.

washingtonpost.com

"No government to help us." "Taxpayer free." "A gift to America." For a year, Trump promised private donors would cover every dollar of his White House ballroom. But internal estimates show taxpayers are projected to pay over half the $600 million cost. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

A year of Trump insisting his ballroom won’t cost taxpayers a dime

The president has repeatedly said private donations would cover the cost of the project.

washingtonpost.com

Scoop: As Trump promised "ZERO taxpayer funding" for his White House ballroom, his own officials projected taxpayers would cover more than half its $600 million cost, internal documents obtained by The Washington Post show. From @Blaskey_S and @jocwapo www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Records reveal $600M estimate for Trump’s ballroom project, with half from taxpayers

An internal cost estimate in March by the project’s contractor ran $200 million more than Trump has said publicly and counters his claims that no taxpayer money will be spent.

washingtonpost.com

Tourists and locals are coming to see Trump's name gone from the Kennedy Center. Instead: a towering tarp. Days after a crew tore the 18 letters off the facade at 3 a.m., the result is still hidden — and the center won't say when it comes down. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center, but a tarp is hiding the proof

Some visitors are reading political meanings into the cover-up, but center officials say that spot is staying shrouded until the marble facade can be repaired.

washingtonpost.com

President Donald Trump's name came off the Kennedy Center in the dead of night Saturday. More than 60 hours later, almost no one has seen it gone. The giant tarp column remains up, and the locals and die-hards trickling in to see the restored signage are leaving disappointed.

The Kennedy Center’s name sign is still blocked by tarps and surrounded by security guards more than 12 hours after President Donald Trump’s name was removed from the building. Just a handful of journalists and passersby waiting for the tarps to come down.

President Donald Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Kennedy Center removes Trump’s name from building

After courts knocked down attempts to delay the signage change, crews built scaffolding but failed to remove President Donald Trump’s name by midnight.

washingtonpost.com

President Donald Trump’s name is now being taken off the Kennedy Center. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Workers begin removing Trump’s name from Kennedy Center

After courts knocked down attempts to delay the signage change, crews built scaffolding but failed to remove President Donald Trump’s name by midnight.

washingtonpost.com

The mood had pretty light over the past nine hours — until about 15 minutes ago when the crew brought out tarp. Mood changed immediately with boos and chants of “Shame!”

Justice Department lawyers representing the Kennedy Center have just filed a motion for a 12-hour extension to remove Trump's name from the building. They said work "has been delayed because of thunderstorms ... presented safety concerns for workers."

It’s go time — less than an hour until the court-ordered deadline to take President Donald Trump’s name off the building. Crews are almost finished with the scaffolding, but no letters have been touched let alone removed.

A 14-member crew just started offloading scaffolding after taking an extended break, presumably due to thunderstorms. When the workers started moving, the crowd of about 150 immediately broke out into chants of “Take it down! Take it down!”

From about a half hour ago: Workers erected scaffolding on Friday near the Kennedy Center's exterior sign, hours before a deadline to remove President Donald Trump's name. (Alex Wroblewski, AFP/Getty Images)

Trump's name must come off the Kennedy Center — now, according to federal judge who rejected the center's eleventh-hour request to delay complying with his earlier ruling. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Judge denies last-ditch Kennedy Center bid to delay removing Trump’s name

The denial came hours before a court-ordered deadline to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the D.C. performing arts venue.

washingtonpost.com

Breaking: A federal judge just denied the Kennedy Center's last-minute motion to delay removing President Donald Trump's name from the performing arts venue. Story TK.

The Washington National Opera is suing the Kennedy Center for $17 million, saying the center has "wrongfully held" years of donor gifts — and used some of the money to collateralize its own line of credit. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Washington National Opera sues to force Kennedy Center to turn over $17M in gifts

The opera filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the Kennedy Center illegally took years' worth of donor gifts, bequests and endowment funds. The two parties cut ties in January.

washingtonpost.com