Trump Shooter's Secret Alias Revealed; Sydney Sweeney Faces Backlash | 9/16/26 FIRST LOOK
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What news does Dave Rubin open the First Look episode with?
Hey everybody, I'm Dave Ai and this is First Look. It's Wednesday, September 16th, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today.
Why did the Kennedy Center board vote to close its main building for renovations?
Kennedy Center Board votes to close main building for renovations. New details emerge on Thomas Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate President Trump in Pennsylvania, as federal files reveal a hidden alias. Sydney Sweeney in hot water with women athletes over a hot new ad she stars in. Let's dive in. Kennedy Center board votes to close main building for renovations. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board voted Tuesday to immediately close the venue's main building. And they did it shortly after a judge blocked President Trump's name from going back on it. This is the latest chapter in President Trump's fight to save an iconic American institution that he says is dangerously dilapidated and in dire financial straits.
Since taking office for his second term, Trump has taken a keen interest in the Kennedy Center as part of a broader effort to renovate and restore landmarks in and around the nation's capital. He has also expressed frustration with the legal hurdles thrown in front of that work, The board, stacked with Trump's own appointees, passed a resolution to close the center for renovations. That work is expected to take two years and cost $285 million, according to court filings reported by the Wall Street Journal. The text of the resolution, made public in court papers Monday, said the building was in such disrepair that it was endangering visitors and employees. The consulting group hired for the renovation recommended the closure.
This is not cosmetic. The board's position is that the building is so far gone it may have to be demolished if it cannot be fixed. Justice Department attorneys told the court that it is Trump's name that is drawing in donations to repair what they describe as a decimated building. Also on Tuesday, Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, an Obama appointee, denied the latest attempt by the venue's board to affix an inscription that says, renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump, under President John F. Kennedy's name on the front portico, and to rename the center's grounds after Trump. Cooper said adding Trump's name under Kennedy's would violate the order he issued in May, which required Trump's name to be removed from the building after the board had voted to add it in December.
Only Congress has the authority to rename the institution, he ruled at the time. Trump's name first went up on the building in December and came down a little over five months later. Scaffolding wrapped in a white tarp has covered much of the building's name ever since. The board said in court papers that it has been protecting the marble facade, which it suggested might have been damaged when Trump's name was taken down. In a second attempt to put Trump's name on the center, the board voted in August to christen the plaza after Trump and inscribe his name below Kennedy's. Cooper said in Tuesday's decision that he appreciated how major supporters of cultural institutions are routinely recognized with prominent inscriptions on buildings and in other public areas.
But, he wrote, Congress had other ideas for the Kennedy Center.
How did federal records reveal Thomas Crooks used the alias “Bob Dole” before the Trump assassination attempt?
Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing, Cooper wrote. The judge said he would not decide now whether the board can lawfully add a second inscription in the future, one that would say, endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund, because the board said that will not be added until the private endowment it created in June has raised $100 million. The fund has raised nothing yet, Cooper said. He directed the board to notify him when the endowment has raised the money and give the court at least 60 days' notice before it installs an inscription. Representative Joyce Beattie, a Democrat from Ohio and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has been fighting the center's renaming.
She asked the court to intervene again after the August board meeting.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What news does Dave Rubin open the First Look episode with?
0:04–0:12
2
Why did the Kennedy Center board vote to close its main building for renovations?
0:12–3:34
3
How did federal records reveal Thomas Crooks used the alias “Bob Dole” before the Trump assassination attempt?
3:34–5:41
4
What does the new paperwork tell us about Crooks’s childhood, education and mysterious motives?
5:41–8:47
5
Why are female athletes criticizing Sydney Sweeney’s new sports‑prediction ad?
8:47–10:49
6
How did Sydney Sweeney respond to the backlash with ESPN Body Issue images?
10:49–11:58
7
What are the key takeaways from today’s stories about the Kennedy Center, Thomas Crooks and Sydney Sweeney?
11:58–11:59
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Rubin Report
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