Barbra Streisand is calling out President Donald Trump and his “unchecked ego” after he threatened to cancel the Kennedy Center renovation plans if his name isn’t added.
Publishing a statement via her website on Thursday, September 17, Streisand, 84, slammed Trump for his actions, which she claimed are “galling and painful to witness.”
“Now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation,” she wrote via her website. “Oddly, when Trump’s name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!”
She continued, “You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
Elsewhere in the statement, Streisand, who accepted a Kennedy Center Honors award in 2008, explained why she felt so strongly about Trump’s repeated efforts to add his name to the building. (The building was originally named for the late President John F. Kennedy.)
“I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees,” she said. “For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy. That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness.”
Earlier this week, Trump announced via social media that he would be supportive of the center’s renovations if his name was added to the building.
Donald Trump. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“The Board of The Kennedy Center today agreed, almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction,” Trump, 80, wrote via TruthSocial on Tuesday, September 15. “The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name.”
The former Apprentice host continued, “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”
In his latest post, Trump claimed $17 million — that he allegedly raised — has already been put into The Kennedy Center account to keep it afloat.
Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper explained that Congress would need to approve Trump’s name being added to the Washington, D.C., building.
“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’ blessing,” Cooper said in the latest ruling on Tuesday via the Associated Press.
Members of Kennedy’s extended family have previously weighed in on Trump’s attempts to attach his name to the Center.
“Adding your name to a memorial already named in honor of a great man doesn’t make you a great man. Quite the contrary,” Maria Shriver, 70, wrote via X in December 2025. “Putting your name on top of someone else’s doesn’t mean that people will speak of you in the same breath as the other man. Putting your name above another man’s name on his existing memorial… What is that about? Truly? What’s that about?”
JFK’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, also previously slammed Trump’s actions.
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