Trump Attends ‘Chicago’ Musical Premiere at Kennedy Center Ahead of Planned Closure

President Donald Trump attended the opening night of the musical “Chicago” with First Lady Melania Trump at the renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington on March 31.

Footage shared by the White House’s Rapid Response account shows the couple receiving applause as Trump waves to the audience at the premiere. This was their first appearance together at the center since the premiere of the documentary “Melania” earlier this year.

“Chicago,” a scathing satire set in the 1920s about how show business and the media make celebrities out of criminals, will run at the Kennedy Center Opera House through April 5.

Trump also attended the opening night of “Les Misérables” last summer. The center is set to award the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to comedian Bill Maher on June 28, another event Trump could potentially attend.

Formerly known as the Kennedy Center, the performing arts center was renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center after a board vote in December 2025. Trump, chairman of the center’s board, said in February that the center would close down for two years, starting on July 4, for renovation work.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that the temporary closure would “produce a much faster and higher quality result” by eliminating disruptions from the many events taking place there. The president said the goal is to turn the center into “a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment.”

Richard Grenell, then-interim executive director at the Trump-Kennedy Center, has said the shutdown would be brief “in retrospect.” He noted that Congress appropriated $275 million for the center’s maintenance and repairs.

On March 13, Trump appointed Matt Floca, who previously served as the center’s vice president of operations, to replace Grenell, who also serves as an envoy for special missions.

“THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will be, at its completion, the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the World,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing Floca’s appointment.

The planned renovation of the center has drawn legal challenges from preservation groups and architecture organizations, who filed a federal lawsuit on March 23 alleging that officials moved forward with exterior changes without consulting the required local and federal review bodies.

Central to the complaint is the claim that no Section 106 review was conducted, a process required under federal law to assess how projects might affect historic properties.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston has defended the plans, citing Trump’s efforts to revamp the center.

“President Trump is committed to making the Trump-Kennedy Center the finest performing arts facility in the world,” Huston told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”

Jackson Richman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.