Protesters form human chain at Kennedy Center after Trump threat

Protesters formed a human chain on Friday around the Kennedy Center, the Washington arts hub that US President Donald Trump threatened to demolish unless his name is restored to it.

The complex's main building has been shuttered since Wednesday -- temporarily, according to its leadership -- while a judge is also reviewing plans for a long-term closure to accommodate Trump's desired renovations of the aging facility.

Crowds waved placards reading "hands off Kennedy Center" and broke out into song beneath the scaffolding and tarps that have remained in place since workers removed Trump's name from the building in June following a court order.

Trump took control last year of the Kennedy Center -- inaugurated in 1971 following the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy -- and has pushed for a major renovation, claiming the building had been left in a state of disrepair by previous leaders.

Like other projects around the US capital, the president has shown an unprecedented keenness to put his personal touch on plans, while testing the legal bounds of executive authority.

Trump's handpicked Kennedy Center board voted last year to officially rename the institution as the Trump-Kennedy Center, with corresponding updates to building signage and online logos.

The move -- later reversed by a judge -- led to a major decline in ticket sales, artist boycotts and an exodus of donors, according to The Washington Post.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Neal Racioppo, a Washington resident who runs marketing and communications for a theater.

Trump "can't get his name on this cherished building, so he is depriving the world of what it could be."

Racioppo, 57, joined a human chain that formed as night fell on the imposing, white, marble building, with crowds sprawling out onto the esplanade overlooking the Potomac River.

Demonstrators were zigzagged around the barriers installed after the center closed this week, with some waving placards reading "hands off Kennedy Center" and "Donny, you are no JFK".

"It has been an important home for the arts for this city and this country and the world," Racioppo said.

"What President Trump is doing is despicable."

Lizzy Andrew, who has performed several times at the Kennedy Center, including singing with the National Symphony Orchestra, said she was angered at Trump's threat to tear down the venue.

"He does not have a right to decide that an institution, a living memorial to a past president, can be demolished," the 30-year-old told AFP.

"I think you can see tonight that the people of DC and the people of America do not agree with that decision."

Lela Agnew, who regularly brings her children to visit the center, said she came to defend an institution that "belongs to the people".

"I've been coming here for about 50 years," she said. "It's not a place that needs to be demolished."

"It's just not a political place."