18 posts from Tuesday, September 15, 2026

For more than 50 years, the Kennedy Center has stood along the Potomac as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, in America's home for the performing arts. Millions have come through its doors to experience music, theater, dance, history, and culture. Yet behind the marble facade, above the ceilings, and beneath the foundation, critical systems are failing. Above the iconic walkways, wrapping the building's exterior, lower roof drainage failures have saturated the massive overhead panels, severely corroding the steel supports that hold them in place. One third of these 278 soffit panels require immediate replacement, and over 95% exhibit significant corrosion. Each panel weighs up to 2,500 pounds, suspended 60 feet directly above active pedestrian pathways. In the parking garage, decades of water infiltration have degraded structural concrete and severely corroded structural steel. Temporary shoring towers now hold up deteriorating slabs directly above active drive lanes, while key steel beams exhibit section loss of up to 40%. This degradation reaches further into the subterranean service tunnel and loading docks. Chronic water intrusion has compromised joints and fractured concrete slabs overhead, creating immediate life safety risks across this primary transit pipeline that serves every backstage space. On September 4th, the risk became a reality. In the Grand Foyer, water damage caused a 4 by 5 foot section of plaster to break free from the ceiling and fall 60 feet to the floor. A security officer had cleared the area just minutes earlier. Other locations along the Grand Foyer ceiling show similar signs of trapped moisture and deterioration. Under the front plaza, active leaks threaten the center's primary electrical infrastructure. Because this high-voltage equipment from the 1960s lacks modern downstream disconnects, major repairs or component failures require shutting down power to two-thirds of the building. The central chillers and boilers that heat and cool the complex are operating years past their engineered service life, leaving the facility vulnerable to catastrophic mechanical failure and rendering basic climate control increasingly unmanageable. And for 30 years, a failed filtration system has allowed unfiltered Potomac River water to contribute to buildup, corrosion, and additional strain on the center's aging cooling equipment. The challenges extend to the stages themselves. Backstage in the Opera House, critical theatrical rigging, and overhead production systems are decades beyond their intended service life. An independent engineering report recommended major replacement as far back as 2002, yet much of that equipment remains in use above performers and crews today. Taken individually, these are major capital projects. Together, they represent compounding systemic failures that temporary shoring and piecemeal repairs can no longer mitigate. This is not about demolition. A planned temporary closure of the main facility is the only path to overhaul these compounding hazards, modernize critical plant and stage technology, and safeguard this national memorial for generations to come. But a temporary closure does not mean silencing our mission. By activating the reach and expanding off-site artistic, educational, and civic programming, the center will remain vibrant while this essential overhaul is completed. It also means preparing for a historic grand reopening, delivering a renewed national home for artists, audiences, and future generations. The work ahead is significant, but so is the opportunity, and lasting stewardship requires action today.

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[ Applause ]

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As commander in chief, it's my great honor to announce that I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin the construction of two brand new, very large, largest we've ever built battleships. You know, you used to build the Iowa, the Missouri, the Wisconsin, the Alabama, many others. We had big battleships. These are bigger, but they will have 100 times the – they'll be 100 times the force, the power. And there's never been anything like these ships. These have been under design consideration for a long time. And it started with me in my first term, because I said, "Why aren't we doing battleships like we used to?" And the – these are the best in the world. They'll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built. You look at the Iowa, the Missouri, Wisconsin, Alabama, and others, but they were similar in size. Some are a little bit bigger than the others. But if you take the biggest one, it's 100 times more powerful. They're longer by a little bit, but the – and they're bigger, they're bigger ships, but they hold much more. They use the word lethality.

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former White House deputy chief of staff and president now the AI advocacy group innovation council so Taylor am I wrong I mean am I completely wrong I mean after all David Sachs is the smartest guy about all this stuff and he said basically if you guys want to restrain it and slow it down go on ahead and slow it down but don't bring the whole government regulatory state with it I mean that's the way I'm reading it Larry you're exactly right this is not about safety it's about control with President Trump you have the greatest president for the worker the greatest president defending America America's national security and somebody who understands the importance of the economy and the importance of this industry to it and he stood up and fought he stood up and led he sees around the corner on this and he sees through some of the the bull that we're seeing out there online from some of these companies now going back to the control it the Democrats the left has tried this cycle after cycle decade after decade they tried it as you pointed out correctly with the Paris Climate Accords it's not about the climate it's about control and now they're trying to blackmail the American people with this idea of safety like they're going to release a world-ending technology if we don't regulate it and now take Dario the CEO of anthropic at his word he didn't say the American government he said the global war world order right because now we talk about our two frontier labs as well there are two frontier labs are American companies built here in the United States of America yet he wants to outsource the regulation the oversight to what the Europeans who are building nothing no I think the president is exactly right what this actually is about is controlling the future limiting competition and shifting a liability and that's I think an important part it's a it's a point that David Sachs made in his right which is shifting liability like you don't roll a car off of an assembly line without testing the brakes if if something goes wrong it's on the company that produced the product there is tremendous consumer protections already in place and these companies should be liable for for the product they built which it goes to the final point if they think that the next step with this current moment calls for a pacing of the technology and the innovation then so be it these are private company currently they're private companies they all want to IPO and continue creating new products but if they think that it's so important to posit then they should and we should respect that that's on them but right now the president sees around the corner on this he understands what China is trying to do he understands that China is not going to play by the same rules of some global world order and he's not going to back down and kowtow to whatever these silicon elites want to say because they don't they don't want him to have power or they won't want Republicans to be in control again we're split seven weeks out for an election this is nothing to do about safety this is control in politics

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