Recommendations of the Editorial team
Months after Donald Trump gutted the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, or Kennedy Center, its board, hand-picked by the president, has voted “unanimously” to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. This was stated by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
In a social media post, Leavitt wrote that the reason for the board’s decision was “the incredible work President Trump did last year in saving the building.” She added that Trump worked to reconstruct the building, provided financial aid and improved its “reputation.”
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump. And equally congratulations to President Kennedy. Because this is going to be a really great team in the long run,” Leavitt wrote. “The building will undoubtedly reach new levels of success and greatness.”
Doubts about Trump’s portrayal of his achievements
CNBC reports that this optimistic picture of Trump’s contributions is distorted, as both ticket sales and headcount declined in 2025.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) called the name change illegal. “The Kennedy Center Board of Directors has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center without legislative action,” he said, according to Bloomberg.
The former representative from Massachusetts, Joe Kennedy III, also commented. “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president. It was named for President Kennedy by federal law,” he wrote. “It can’t be renamed any more than anyone could rename the Lincoln Memorial. No matter what anyone says.”
Honors and political proximity
The announcement came a week after the center held its annual Kennedy Center Honors, which this year honored Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and George Strait. The honorees recently posed for a photo with Trump in the Oval Office. The ceremony, which Trump himself hosted, is scheduled to air Tuesday on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
In February, less than a month after his second inauguration as president, Trump declared himself chairman of the Kennedy Center board. “I have decided to immediately remove several people from the Board of Trustees, including the chair, who do not share our vision for a Golden Age in arts and culture,” he wrote on his own social media platform in February.
“We will soon announce a new Board of Directors. With a great Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” He then fired the center’s president, Deborah F. Rutter. And installed Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist, as interim president. Several board members either resigned or were fired. Renee Fleming and Ben Folds were among the board members who resigned from their positions.
Criticism from within
Carri Twigg, a former Kennedy Center board member appointed by President Joe Biden, wrote an op-ed for ROLLING STONE. In it, she explained why Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center was troubling. “If President Trump successfully co-opts and reshapes the American imagination along with our institutions, we will find ourselves without the tools necessary to protect or, in a likely reality, restore democratic norms,” she wrote.
“The path forward requires meeting people where they are. Not just with policy papers. But with compelling cultural narratives that defend pluralistic values. … The battle for America’s future will be won or lost not just at the ballot box. But also on television and cell phone screens, on stages, in concert halls and cultural institutions across the country.”
Historical background and legal situation
The institution that would originally be known as the National Cultural Center was named for Kennedy in 1964, a year after the president’s assassination. It opened in 1971 and became home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. The first Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing achievement in the arts, took place in 1978.
In July, NBC News reported that renaming the Kennedy Center after Trump would violate the law. A U.S. law states: “After December 2, 1983, no additional monuments or memorial plaques may be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” Any renaming would require congressional approval.