Kennedy Center board votes to add Trump to name

by · UPI

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., voted Thursday to rename the facility to also honor President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.

The venue will now be called the Trump-Kennedy Center. The announcement comes 10 months after Trump dismissed the entire board and named new board members, who in turn elected him chairman.

CNBC reported, though, that to change the name of the Kennedy Center would require a measure passed by Congress. U.S. code says no new "memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts."

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the renaming of the facility "is illegal," in a statement reported by Bloomberg.

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"The Kennedy Center board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action."

Leavitt said the board voted "unanimously" to rename the facility "because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building."

"Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation," she wrote in a post on X.

"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 building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur."

Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations at the Kennedy Center, said Trump "saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction."

"The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America's cultural center for generations to come," Daravi said in a statement.

Trump said he was "surprised and honored" by the news, though he hinted at the potential name change while hosting the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month.

"The board is a very distinguished board, the most distinguished people in the country," he told reporters, The Hill reported. "We saved the building because it was in such bad shape, physically, financially, and in every other way, and now it's very solid, very strong."

The New York Times reported ticket sales during an average week in October this year were down about 50% compared to 2024. The Washington Post also analyzed sales from September to Oct. 19 and found an "across-the-board drop-off" in tickets at the three largest performances spaces at the complex.

Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy's grandson, said the vote to rename the facility was not unanimous.

"Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous," he wrote on X.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member, said she was muted on the call each time she tried to speak.

"Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns," she said, according to The Hill.

Trump, Stallone, Kiss arrive at Kennedy Center Honors

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on the red carpet for the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center in Washington, on December 7, 2025. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo