Maria Shriver is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily shut down the Kennedy Center.
Shriver — a niece of President John F. Kennedy — shared what she called her “translation” of Trump’s Feb. 1 announcement that the Kennedy Center, created as a memorial to JFK and now also bearing Trump’s name on the building, will close for two years for renovations.
Trump, 79, wrote on Truth Social that the pause in programming is necessary for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” which he said would turn the venue into “the finest Performing Arts Facility in the world.”
“I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time,” Trump wrote.
Shriver, 70, responded by suggesting the shutdown has less to do with construction and more to do with a growing wave of performers backing out of appearances — a pattern she implied has accelerated since Trump’s name was added to the institution.
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In a post on X, she laid out her interpretation bluntly:
“Translation: It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer,” Shriver wrote.
“I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling… right?” her post concluded.
Trump’s involvement with the Kennedy Center has been a flashpoint since February 2025, when he removed several board members and replaced them with allies. The reconstituted board later named him chairman.
Over the following months, Trump repeatedly pushed to attach his name to the building — a move that drew criticism from multiple members of the Kennedy family, including Shriver, Kerry Kennedy, Joe Kennedy III and Jack Schlossberg.
On Dec. 18, the Kennedy Center board voted to rename the institution after Trump without going through Congress. The next day, updated signage on the building read, “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
As public backlash intensified, several artists scheduled to appear at the center withdrew. Those cancellations included Béla Fleck, Issa Rae and Chuck Redd, who called off the traditional Christmas Eve concert in protest of the name change.
Shriver’s reaction to the two-year closure echoed that timeline — framing the shutdown as a move influenced, at least in part, by the growing list of artists opting out.
