Barbra Streisand calls out Trump’s “unchecked ego” over threatening to demolish Kennedy Center if his name isn’t added to building

Barbra Streisand is calling out President Trump, and she isn't holding back. The eighty-four-year-old published a statement via her website on Thursday, September 17, taking direct aim at the president over his threats to demolish the Kennedy Center if his name isn't added to the building.

"Now, a thoroughly defeated Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center is being closed for what the completely stacked board describes as a major renovation. Oddly, when Trump's name was still on the building, there was no discussion of closing it!" she wrote.

The Meet the Fockers actress also added,

"You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man's name and unchecked ego."

Barbra Streisand also described Trump's behavior as

"galling and painful to witness."

As per a report shared by The Huffington Post, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to give the court a thirty-day notice before moving forward with any changes to the Kennedy Center's construction plans, demolition included. The ruling followed efforts by officials to shutter the presidential memorial after the court had previously ordered Trump's name removed from the building. Trump told reporters on Wednesday the structure could be "ripped down" if his name isn't added back in some form.

Trump ties Kennedy Center reconstruction to naming rights as court battle intensifies:

Elsewhere in her statement, Streisand, who received a Kennedy Center Honors award back in 2008, explained why the ongoing dispute hit so close to her heart. The building was originally named for the late President John F. Kennedy.

"I was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees," she shared.

"For me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy. That is why what is happening to the Kennedy Center is so galling and painful to witness," she added.

The eighty-year-old president also weighed in via TruthSocial on September 15, writing that the Kennedy Center board had agreed

"almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction."

The commander in chief added,

"If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place."

Trump name removal from Kennedy Center celebrated by JFK's niece Maria Shriver:

Back in May, Maria Shriver was celebrating after a judge ruled that the forty-seventh president's name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Shriver, whose mother Eunice Kennedy was one of JFK's siblings, took to Threads on Friday, May 29, to share her reaction.

"An appropriate birthday present on my uncle's birthday today," she wrote.

Maria Shriver, who is also the founder of the non-profit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement (WAM), was referring to the late President John F. Kennedy.

"A federal judge ruled that President Trump and the Kennedy Center Board acted unlawfully in renaming the Kennedy Center after him. The judge held that only Congress can change the Center's name and blocked the planned two-year closure for now," she added.

Shriver also acknowledged that the fight was far from over.

"I know they'll probably appeal and the story isn't over, but for today, let's celebrate a great birthday gift," she shared.

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Judge Christopher Cooper, who authored a ninety-four-page order on the matter, pointed out that only Congress holds the authority to rename the building. The commander in chief's efforts were blocked after Cooper noted the law was "crystal clear" that the building be named after President Kennedy.

"Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," Cooper wrote.

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