Maria Shriver has strong words for President Donald Trump amid the ongoing dispute over the Kennedy Center.
The former first lady of California and niece of former President John F. Kennedy took to social media on Sept. 15 to criticize the president after he threatened to cancel renovations to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts unless his name is added to it.
"That a sitting president would not let any renovations to a public building go on unless he gets to first put his name in the said building ... What a sad state of affairs," Shriver wrote. "What a tragedy. Actually, how small minded, how narcissistic. Actually great men, devoted to public service and the public good do not act like this."
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House for comment.
"It seems that this man will not rest until his name is permanently connected to the name of a great president, whose memory this building was dedicated to," Shriver continued. "Imagine spending your time and your days focused on this, as everyday Americans struggle with healthcare, gas prices, rent, and food. Imagine spending your days focused on this, while a war rages under your leadership."
The statement came after the Kennedy Center's board, which is chaired by Trump, on Sept. 15 voted to close the main building of the institution in preparation for renovations that the Trump administration has said are needed.
But in a Sept. 15 post on Truth Social, Trump said the planned renovations "cannot begin" until a court approves adding his name to the center.
"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 wrote.
In December, the Kennedy Center board of trustees, made up largely of members who Trump handpicked, voted to rename the cultural institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.
But in May, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled that Trump's name must be removed from the center's title, saying that, per a 1964 law, "the Kennedy Center must be named for, and is meant to honor, President Kennedy alone," and congressional approval is needed to change the name. The judge also overturned a planned two-year closure for renovations.
On Sept. 15, Cooper, in a new order, blocked plans to add an inscription to the building that says "renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump." The judge said that "Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing."
Kennedy Center officials have said that the institution faces "certain fiscal collapse within weeks," and that Trump likely won't "provide the fundamental oversight of the renovation of the main building and lead the fiscal rescue of the Center" without receiving "appropriate recognition" and having his name added to it.
Shriver, daughter of John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, has been outspoken in her criticism of Trump's actions surrounding the Kennedy Center over the past year. In May, she celebrated the judge's opinion that Trump's name must be removed from the Kennedy Center, which coincidentally was issued on John F. Kennedy's birthday.
"An appropriate birthday present on my uncle's birthday today," Shriver wrote at the time, adding, "I know they'll probably appeal and the story isn't over, but for today let's celebrate a great birthday gift."
Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maria Shriver slams 'narcissistic' Trump over Kennedy Center dispute
