Donald Trump has been a PR-focused man since long before he was president, but his desecration of the Kennedy Center is one topic he hasn’t been able to wrap a positive spin around. And his unpopular moves might even be illegal.

Negative headlines have swirled around the “Trump-Kennedy Center” since the president began his hostile takeover of the performing arts facility. After Trump stacked the board with loyalists who quickly elected him as chair, ticket sales plummeted and performers bid it adieu.

Despite efforts to spin a more positive press perspective, Trump seemingly decided Sunday that his best course of action was to shutter the building altogether for two years and renovate. The closure is expected to start on July 4.

According to Kennedy Center interim president Richard Grenell, “It desperately needs this renovation and temporarily closing the Center just makes sense—it will enable us to better invest our resources, think bigger and make the historic renovations more comprehensive. … This will be a brief closure in retrospect—and I am confident this sets the stage for a stronger, revitalized National Cultural and Entertainment Complex.”

And while last year’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill allocated $257 million to renovate the center, the abruptness of the closure has startled at least one Republican.

“That came as the big surprise to me, because it was my understanding the renovations are already underway and going well, so I don't think that was anticipated when we provided the money,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told HuffPost.

But Trump and Grenell might have to be reminded that they can’t shut something down just because it’s getting bad PR.

In a letter obtained by MS NOW and published on Thursday, Democratic lawmakers say the closure is likely unlawful.

“This decision likely violates the essential purposes and intent of the federal law establishing this beloved national memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy and raises a multiplicity of serious legal and policy questions that need to be addressed before anything irreversible happens,” said the letter, which was signed by 70 Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

“In a radical departure from the Center’s proudly bipartisan history, you purged the Kennedy Center Board of its independent Trustees, amended the Board’s bylaws to vest all voting power in your appointed loyalists, and even, shockingly, added your own name like a delinquent graffiti artist to the only national memorial for the late beloved President John F. Kennedy,” the letter continued.

Trump has already torn down the East Wing of the White House, but according to a conversation with reporters Monday, he plans to keep the “structure.”

“I’m not ripping it down,” he said. “I’ll be using the steel. So we’re using the structure. 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.”

The thing is, it’s much easier to manage the public perception of a facility—and the mismanagement of its resources—with its doors closed.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos