Broadway star Patti LuPone calls president a ‘buffoon’ over…
Broadway star Patti LuPone criticized President Donald Trump’s proposed renovations of the Trump-Kennedy Center. LuPone referred to Trump as a “buffoon” during her New York City live performance and urged resistance to the proposed adjustments.
“It’s over time for us to rise up and speak,” LuPone said Monday at Carnegie Hall, Deadline reported.
On Sunday, Trump announced plans to shut the venue for 2 years for renovations. LuPone called on viewers members to take to social media to protest the adjustments, saying Trump “cannot touch the Kennedy Center.”
Trump said the renovations would concentrate on infrastructure upgrades, including heating, air flow and elevators, and insisted the constructing wouldn’t be torn down.
“I’ll be using the steel. So, we’re using the structure,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down, but when it’s open, it’ll be brand new and really beautiful.”
Trump has taken a direct position in the Washington venue after a newly appointed Kennedy Center board elected him chair. In December 2025, the middle’s board voted so as to add Trump’s identify to the constructing, renaming it the Trump-Kennedy Center.
LuPone said she was “mad” about the proposed adjustments and urged protesters to “keep the building standing.” Her comments comply with remarks last yr to The New Yorker author Michael Schulman, by which she said the middle under Trump “should get blown up.”
The White House supplied the following assertion when reached for remark by Fox News Digital:
Broadway star Patti LuPone called President Trump a “buffoon” over proposed renovations of the Kennedy Center. Getty Images
Trump said he’ll search to shut the Kennedy Center performing arts middle for development. Getty Images
The constructing was renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center in December 2025. AFP through Getty Images
“While the Democrats neglected the Trump-Kennedy Center for years, President Trump immediately stepped up to rescue and revitalize the institution,” White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston said. “President Trump is taking decisive action to modernize the facility, bring it into full compliance with all building standards, and optimize visitor flow for a world-class experience. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Trump-Kennedy Center will be the finest performing arts facility in the world and everyone will be able to enjoy the success, beauty, and grandeur for years to come.”
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center pushed again on LuPone’s criticism, saying the establishment is present process long-needed repairs.
“For decades, America’s cultural center deteriorated as entertainment industry Leftists sat back and did nothing to save it. Now, the Chairman of the Trump-Kennedy Center is revitalizing the institution through a fully-funded renovation it desperately needs while holding onto the building’s cultural significance,” Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, said in a assertion to Fox News Digital.
According to White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston, “President Trump immediately stepped up to rescue and revitalize the institution,” and the renovations are to “optimize visitor flow for a world-class experience.” Getty Images
LuPone beforehand said the middle under Trump “should get blown up.” Getty Images for Disney
“As Ms. LuPone pointed out, ‘art is the soul of the nation,’ and this historic renewal and beautification effort will give all Americans a place to come together and celebrate artistic excellence that uplifts and unites, rather than divides,” she added.
LuPone isn’t the only artist to voice opposition to adjustments at the middle during Trump’s current time period. Several performers and productions canceled appearances at the venue, including banjo participant Béla Fleck, composer Philip Glass, comic Issa Rae and the musical “Hamilton.”
Trump-Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell also defended the deliberate updates, writing on X: “I am grateful for President Trump’s visionary leadership. I am also grateful to Congress for appropriating an historic $257M to finally address decades of deferred maintenance and repairs at the Kennedy Center.”
He added that the construction “desperately needs this renovation” and that a momentary closure will enable them to make the renovations more complete.
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