WASHINGTON — The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, a move that immediately sparked procedural questions and political backlash over altering the nation’s living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
It was not immediately clear how soon a change could take effect. A source with ties to the institution said Congress must approve any name alteration. US Representative Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member, disputed the process behind the decision, saying the vote was not on the agenda and that she was muted on the call and unable to register opposition.
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“For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move,” Beatty wrote on X. “Also for the record, this was not on the agenda.”
The prospect of renaming the Kennedy Center drew swift condemnation from members of the Kennedy family. “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” former US Representative Joe Kennedy wrote on X, underscoring likely legal and political hurdles ahead.
President Donald Trump, now in his second term, has moved aggressively this year to remake the center’s leadership and priorities. He replaced its chair, installed a new board and assumed the chairmanship himself. He also removed the center’s longtime president and appointed Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, to lead the institution.
Trump has criticized the Kennedy Center’s upkeep and launched a fundraising push for renovations, part of a broader bid to put his stamp on Washington’s cultural landmarks. The administration recently added his name to the United States Institute of Peace building near the White House.
The renaming question burst into public view earlier this month at the Kennedy Center Honors, the institution’s flagship celebration of the arts, when the president referred to the venue as the “Trump-Kennedy Center” from the stage. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he was surprised and honored by the board’s decision. In a post announcing the move, Leavitt wrote: “Congratulations to President Donald J Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future.”
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the 35th president, who was assassinated in 1963, and has long been an emblem of public support for the arts and the civic ideals Kennedy championed. Any attempt to rebrand the institution is likely to collide with statutory designations and congressional oversight, as well as public sentiment connected to the venue’s historic mission.
The White House did not provide details on the timing or mechanics of a potential name change. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board’s vote, and it remains unclear whether any congressional action has been requested or scheduled.
The announcement sets up a high-profile confrontation over the identity and governance of one of Washington’s most visible cultural institutions, with legal questions, political resistance and donor dynamics likely to shape what happens next.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
