Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts center the Trump Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump Kennedy Center, the White House said, in a move that made Democrats fume, saying the board had overstepped its legal authority.

Congress named the center after President John F. Kennedy in 1964, after his assassination. Donald A. Ritchie, who served as Senate historian from 2009-2015, said that because Congress had first named the center it would be up to Congress to “amend the law.”

Ritchie said that while Trump and others can “informally” refer to the center by a different name, they couldn’t do it in a way “that would (legally) stick.”

But the board did not wait for that debate to play out, immediately changing the branding on its website to reflect the new name:

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that legislative action was needed, “and we’re going to make that clear.” The New York Democrat is an ex officio member of the board because of his position in Congress.

Trump has teased the name change for some time

“The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” said Roma Daravi, the institution’s vice president for public relations.

She said the vote recognized that Trump saved the center from “financial ruin and physical destruction,” a pair of claims denied by the venue’s ousted leadership.

“The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come,” Daravi said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, attributing it to the “unbelievable work” Trump has done on the center since he returned to office in January.

Trump, a Republican who’s chairman of the board, said at the White House that he was “surprised” and “honored” by the vote.

“The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it and I was honored by it,” he said.

Trump had already been referring to the center as the “Trump Kennedy Center.” Asked Dec. 7 as he walked the red carpet for the Kennedy Center Honors program whether he would rename the venue after himself, Trump said such a decision would be up to the board.

Earlier this month, he talked about a “big event” happening at the “Trump Kennedy Center” before saying, “excuse me, at the Kennedy Center,” as his audience laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer draw for 2026, in which he participated.

The name change isn’t sitting well with some Kennedy family members.

Maria Shriver, a niece of John F. Kennedy, said it is “beyond comprehension” that Trump has sought to add his name to the memorial to her uncle and “beyond wild” that he would think doing so is acceptable. “It is not,” she said in a social media post.

Shriver said Kennedy was a president who brought the arts into the White House and she speculated that Trump might next seek to rename John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York or any of the other memorials to presidents in Washington.

Earlier this year, Trump renovated the Kennedy-era Rose Garden at the White House to replace the lawn with paving stones.

In his own post on the social platform X, Shriver’s brother, Tim Shriver, called the renaming an “insult to a great president.”

Another Kennedy family member, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is cousins with the Shrivers, serves in Trump’s Cabinet as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump is more focused on the Kennedy Center

Trump showed scant interest in the Kennedy Center during his first term as president, but since returning to office in January he has replaced board members appointed by Democratic presidents with some of his most ardent supporters, who then elected him as board chairman.

He has criticized the center’s past programming and current physical appearance and has vowed to overhaul both.

Trump secured more than $250 million from the Republican-controlled Congress for renovations of the building, including the promise of fresh paint, new seats in the theaters and other upgrades.

He attended opening night of the musical “Les Misérables,” and last week he served as host of the Kennedy Center Honors program after not attending the show during his first term as president. The awards program is scheduled to be broadcast by CBS and Paramount+ on Dec. 23.

Sales of subscription packages are said to have declined since Trump’s takeover of the center, and several touring productions, including “Hamilton,” have canceled planned runs there. Rows of empty seats have been seen in the Concert Hall during performances by the National Symphony Orchestra.

Some performers, including actor Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens, have scrapped scheduled appearances, and Kennedy Center consultants including musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming have resigned.

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AP National Writer Hillel Italie in New York and Associated Press writer Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.

Darlene Superville, The Associated Press