By Betsy Klein, Kristen Holmes, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Monday suggested the Kennedy Center’s two-year renovation project could be dramatic — a demolition effort short of a complete teardown, but one so severe that it would leave the Washington building’s steel “fully exposed.”

A source close to the center said Trump has very specific ideas about what he wants to do to the building, and those ideas — which have not been publicly released — don’t align with the building’s current state.

A document reviewed by CNN, which an official said was presented to some appropriators in Congress, contemplates serious changes — including exterior marble and roofing replacements, security and safety improvements, and seating replacement — but does not make explicit that the theater complex could be stripped to its bones.

“I’m not ripping it down. I’ll be using the steel. So we’re using the structure,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“The steel will be all checked out because it’ll be fully exposed,” he said, estimating the project could cost around $200 million.

The planned two-year closure for construction marks Trump’s most dramatic effort yet to overhaul the center after he oversaw its cultural transformation last year. Upon returning to the White House, he quickly gutted its board and installed loyalists, who elected him chair and voted in December to rename the venue the “Trump Kennedy Center” — a move that’s being challenged in court. But those changes have also led to slumping ticket sales and dwindling performances as prominent artists have canceled their appearances — which some saw as driving the desire to temporarily close.

One source familiar with the project said all of the planned renovations were outlined and presented to at least some in Congress as part of the $257 million included in Trump’s domestic agenda law last summer for “necessary expenses for capital repair, restoration, maintenance backlog, and security structures.” (CNN has reached out to the chair of the Senate committee that has jurisdiction over public buildings.)

But some fear another East Wing situation, with Washington one day waking up to a demolition beyond anything residents had contemplated.

The source brushed off the president’s Monday comments as typical Trump hyperbole, and an administration official said there are no plans to tear down any buildings.

The center needed significant maintenance when Trump returned to office in early 2025, according a source familiar, including upgrades to the orchestra pit, bathroom renovations and new HVAC systems. Two sources familiar with the project said there were 10 to 15 years of deferred maintenance.

Early into Trump’s second term, the Kennedy Center brought in various experts to discuss potential options for renovations, the first source familiar with the project told CNN, including tearing down the building entirely.

During Trump’s first tour of the venue in March, the president asked for options and told officials that he did not want to raze the building but instead wanted to get money from Congress for renovations. Trump made calls to lawmakers on the concept as he traveled back to the White House, and eventually the Kennedy Center was awarded $257 million for operations and renovations.

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center for details on the extent of the renovations, including whether any demolition would be required, whether there would be major structural or cosmetic changes, and whether the Reach — an expansion opened in 2019 — will be preserved.

The remodel, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said, “will focus primarily on the deferred maintenance.”

A surprise announcement

Still, the president’s Truth Social post announcing the renovations came as a surprise to many, including some members of the center’s board, its in-house musicians, members of the National Symphony Orchestra board, and many staffers, according to four sources familiar with the matter. A source who knew about the decision before Trump’s Sunday night announcement said it was kept to a small number of people to prevent it from being leaked to the media.

Trump added in his Truth Social post that the closure would be “totally subject to Board approval,” which is expected to give a rubber stamp given it’s made up of his handpicked allies. One source familiar with the process said there have been no communications with the board about any planned vote since the president’s post, and it’s unclear whether board approval is needed.

Complete closure for two years wasn’t always the idea. One plan — referred to by the first source familiar with the project as a “pardon-the-dust initiative” — would have partially shut down theaters during renovations for about five years. The plan was presented to Trump, at least one subcommittee of the board and the head of building maintenance, and renovations began over the last six months — including marble installations, removal of dead trees and the painting of exterior lights and columns.

But there was strong pushback to this initiative within the organization and from the unions, this source said, particularly over how removing certain elements of the theater would impact patrons and acoustics. Internally, some performers and officials were also concerned about the danger of a perpetual construction site.

Trump vocalized his own objections to the “piecemeal” approach on Monday.

“You can’t do any work because people are coming in and out,” he said in the Oval Office. “We have a marble man over there. The other day he said, ‘You know, every time I put down a piece of marble, people are stepping on the marble. They don’t even have time to dry.’”

Trump went on: “I was thinking maybe there’s a way of doing it simultaneously, but there really isn’t.”

Financial challenges

The announced closure comes as the Kennedy Center has been struggling to sustain the next year of programming.

There was not enough critical mass for a 2026-2027 programming season, spanning classical music, theater, dance, jazz and family events, a source familiar with center’s programming said. The season begins in the fall with artists usually announced on a rolling basis between February and April. By this time of year, another source familiar with programming said, it should have been largely booked.

But many of the shows and artists who were in discussions and on hold for the next season pulled out, according to the first source familiar with programming. Internally, some were concerned about lack of audiences, infrastructure and marketing, that source noted.

“The artist boycott across all genres was becoming untenable,” the second source said, and appeared to make “it quite impossible for them to produce a series of any significance.”

Some shows ending the 2025-2026 season are already under contract and have been announced publicly. It’s unclear what will happen to those performances, with a scramble to figure it out, according to the second source.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on its plans for subscription holders and whether they might receive a refund.

Staffers are now bracing for more layoffs, one of the sources said, after massive cuts over the past year under Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and a close ally.

On Sunday evening, Grenell sent a note to staff with the text of Trump’s social media post and his own brief message.

“We recognize this creates many questions as we plan to temporarily close most of our operations,” he said.

“We will have more information about staffing and operational changes in the coming days.”

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CNN’s Dana Bash contributed to this report.