White House says Kennedy Center board has voted to rename after Trump

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board, which is headed by Republican Donald Trump, has been given a new name.

Karoline Leavitt, a White House press secretary, claimed the Trump-appointed board had earlier made the decision. On Thursday, she revealed the change on social media.

The Kennedy Center’s highly respected Board, which includes some of the world’s most successful individuals, recently approved renaming the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, according to Leavitt.

She claimed that the change would acknowledge “the incredible work that President Trump has done to save the building over the past year.” Leavitt attributed the president’s role in overseeing the facility’s “reconstruction” and bolstering its finances and “reputation” to the president.

However, it’s not clear whether the name change will be finalized without congressional approval.

The Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra are both housed in the arts center, which was inaugurated in Washington, DC, in 1971. It has seven stages and hosts local performances as well as international touring shows.

In 1964, a year after Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was killed during a public appearance in Dallas, Texas, the foundation was ground breaking.

The Democratic leader is credited with backing the fundraising efforts that led to the realization of the project, despite Kennedy’s prioritization of the idea for a national arts center.

An act of Congress naming the arts center after the slain leader was signed into law on January 23, 1964, by Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. The Arts Complex was originally going to be known as the “National Cultural Center.”

According to the congressional act, the Kennedy Center would be the “living memorial” for the late president. Kennedy was “particularly committed to the advancement of the performing arts,” according to the act.

No other memorial in Kennedy’s name would be erected in Washington, DC, the act stated, adding that “it is only fitting and proper that a suitable monument be dedicated to the memory of this great leader.”

Redefining the capital’s future

Before he became president, Trump, a reality TV star and real estate mogul, sought to leave his mark on the nation’s capital, including by renaming buildings and carrying out large-scale construction projects.

For instance, Trump replaced the East Wing of the White House with a ballroom in October. Since taking office in January, he has also expressed interest in creating a triumphal arch in Paris that would resemble the Arc de Triomphe in style.

The US Institute for Peace, a newly established think tank named in honor of “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history,” was named after Trump just this month.

In March, the Trump administration had taken control of the institute by force, and a lawsuit has been filed against the institute’s leadership. However, a May federal judge found the nonprofit’s seizure to be unlawful.

Trump has long desired the Kennedy Center, and changes to the structure quickly hit the scene since the Republican president took office in January.

Deborah Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center, resigned just one week into Trump’s second term, according to rumors of a pressure campaign.

By the beginning of February, Trump had made a purge of the board members of the Kennedy Center, claiming on social media that they opposed his “Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

He said, “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” giving a twist to his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

He added that he would be in charge of programming and would be the center’s chairman.

This will stop, Trump wrote, “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured drag shows that were specifically geared toward our youth.” The Kennedy Center is “an American jewel,” and it must showcase the nation’s brightest stars. THE BEST IS YET TO COME” for the Kennedy Center!

With the Kennedy Center’s lineup excluding touring productions of hit shows like the musical Hamilton and Fellow Travelers, protests and cancellations were a result of the leadership shakeup.

Changing the Kennedy Center’s name

Trump has repeatedly referred to the arts institution as the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” saying that he wanted to have his name engraved on its marble facade in the months that followed.

Additionally, he chose the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual award given for outstanding work in American art and culture.

Trump referenced his petition to change the name of the Kennedy Center in a winking allusion when naming the honorees in August.

On his platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote, “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS.”

He also cheated on the modifications to the art center’s structure, including painting the former gold columns white.

According to Trump, “Tremendous work is being done and money is being spent” on returning it to its absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment. It has been through a lot of physical hardship, but it will soon be making a major comeback! “!

Trump’s request to rebaptize the art center was accepted by some Republicans. For instance, Idaho’s representative Mike Simpson proposed a bill designating First Lady Melania Trump as the name of the complex’s opera house.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s Bob Onder, a member of Congress, introduced a new bill to completely eliminate Kennedy’s name, designating the new “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.”

However, the Kennedy family’s surviving descendants have been vocal critics of those proposals.

Maria Shriver, the niece of President Kennedy, expressed shock that the art center might be renamed on Thursday after Leavitt’s announcement.

“Some things leave you speechless, furious, and disbelieving,” he said. It’s always better to be quiet at times like that. She wrote on social media, “For how long, I can’t say. “

Shriver referred to the idea as “insane” and said, “It makes my blood boil” when similar proposals had been made in the past.

In the midterms of 2026, Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s grandson, questioned whether the White House’s announcement was even legitimate.

He wrote on social media that “the board meeting and vote were muted and not unanimous.”

Given the name-changing proposal, some Democrats questioned whether it was even legal, despite the congressional act that gives the structure its name.

For instance, Tennessee’s representative Steve Cohen called the initiative “deeply troubling.”

“Changing the Kennedy Center’s name to include a sitting or former president’s name, particularly one who is still a partisan political figure, undermines the purpose of the institution,” Cohen said in a statement.

Source: Aljazeera