President Donald Trump continued his campaign to seize control over the Kennedy Center on Tuesday by insisting that a security guard had come mere “seconds away from certain death” due to the building’s state of disrepair.
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A small chunk of ceiling at the Kennedy Center collapsed earlier this month, though no injuries were reported. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick first claimed on Monday that the chunk of ceiling had “missed one of the Center’s security guards by just minutes,” and that it could have “killed” countless patrons.
Trump expanded on Lutnick’s claim on Tuesday with a lengthy rant in which he argued why it was necessary for him to be given more control over the iconic performing arts center.
“A large piece of concrete and steel just dropped down, in a thud, from the ceiling of a heavily trafficked main hallway. If the Building were open, innocent people would have been killed,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
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“A security guard had just passed the area, one minute prior to this ceiling collapse. He was, therefore, 60 seconds away from certain death. The Judge has made us keep it open even though there are no performances, and no people that would have the Courage to even go in.”
Trump has spent much of his second term focused on his D.C. beautification projects, including his campaign to renovate the Kennedy Center, which included emblazoning his name on the building — a move since undone by a judge’s order.
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