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A photographer captured extraordinary pictures of President Donald Trump looking at a seeming plan to demolish the Kennedy Center through the windows of Air Force One on Wednesday evening, as the president has repeatedly vowed to impose his will on the 55-year-old cultural building regardless of court orders against him.
The pictures, captured by Washington, D.C. photojournalist Brendan Smialowski, show Trump sitting inside his presidential plane looking at a large poster that appears to say “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” on top. The poster, which is partially obscured, shows a view of the building with excavation and construction equipment around it.
Other pictures showed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte carrying poster boards while descending the steps of the plane, which had just landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. As Pulte exits, he is carrying the posters in a way that only shows the blank backs, hiding their contents. Pulte also seems to be present in the photo of Trump reviewing the poster.
Trump has taken steps to demolish or close the center if he isn’t allowed to rename it after himself, after losing a series of court battles barring him from placing his name on the building or doing major renovations or reconstructions.
“I think that the Trump 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 president said to reporters before boarding Air Force One in North Carolina on Wednesday.
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This comment came after a member of the legal team fighting the Trump administration on the Kennedy Center maneuverings submitted court , on Wednesday, she witnessed a forklift repeatedly ramming a column of the building.
Bridget Kennedy-Bailey, a staff member of the counsel in the case, said that she visited the Kennedy Center and attempted to enter on Wednesday morning. This was a day after Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board decided to close the building for a two-year renovation, just hours after a federal judge blocked Trump from putting his name on the building.
Kennedy-Bailey said that the security guard barred her from entering, telling her that the center was closed. She then said that black metal fences were quickly erected during the remainder of that morning, and that forklifts were bringing more gates that resembled those using construction sites.
“I saw a forklift carrying what appeared to be a more permanent form of fencing drive over to the north side of the building. I saw the forklift run into and hit the pillars on the building several times,” Kennedy-Bailey said. “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.”
Lawyers for the legal group, representing Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), submitted the pictures of Trump viewing the poster in a court filing, as well as Trump’s comments from the tarmac. The court has evidently ordered the Trump administration to explain its actions with regard to the latest developments — but the administration has been openly defying court orders in the case, closing the building earlier this week despite a federal judge having barred it from doing so.
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