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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Anna Betts

Trump rushed Kennedy Center renovations for Fifa peace prize ceremony, whistleblowers say

Two men in suits on stage shake hands.
Donald Trump accepts Fifa ‘peace prize’ from Gianni Infantino at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on 5 December 2025. Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

The US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a letter to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts detailing allegations from whistleblowers that some renovations were “rushed” and federal contracting laws “were ignored” to get the center ready for events, including for Donald Trump to receive the Fifa “peace prize” during the World Cup draw he hosted there in December.

“I have received allegations that the Kennedy Center has conducted rushed renovation and maintenance work with disregard to its commitments to Congress and the federal contracting standards the Center has long applied to its own procurements,” the Rhode Island Democrat wrote in the letter dated Thursday.

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