FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as he arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, while he travels to attend a campaign rally supporting Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley, in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., September 16, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump sparked outrage on Wednesday after he publicly threatened to tear down the Kennedy Center if courts don't allow him to affix his name to the building.
Speaking to reporters before departing to North Carolina for a rally, Trump called the building a "loser" and said he was the one capable of fixing it. He also said that the Trump administration needed to be recognized for "subsidizing" the center and fundraising for it.
"Frankly, if we don't do that, it will close and get ripped down," Trump said. "It's in very bad shape, and it's dangerous."
His comments came at a time when federal judges have prevented the Trump administration from renaming the Kennedy Center after Trump. The president recently dialed-in to a Kennedy Center board meeting, where he reportedly had an outburst at Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) because of her lawsuit to prevent him from renaming the center.
Trump's comments stunned political analysts, who shared their reactions on social media.
"The worst human being to ever occupy the office. Just reprehensible scum," Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch Network, posted on X.
"Closed and ripped down? Every Trumpist threat is a confession," political commentator Keith Olbermann posted on X.
"What ugliness lurks in a man's mind that seeks to erase a man's name from a monument- a memorial-dedicated to him in death, to put his own, living one? It's almost akin to putting 'Trump' on JFK's tombstone," Annie Duforur, a Canadian journalist, posted on X.
"And, he says it out loud: Rip it down," Joyce Vance, a legal expert, posted on X.