Kennedy Center Signage Changed to ‘Trump Kennedy Center’

Photo Credit: Digital Music News

New signage was installed at the Kennedy Center on Friday to include President Donald Trump’s name. The move comes after the board of trustees (mostly appointed by Trump) voted to rename the facility in honor of him.

The building was previously known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Now it will be known as the Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The center’s social media accounts were also updated on Friday to reflect the new name.

The legality of renaming the live entertainment venue remains in question. It’s unclear if the board has the authority to rename the institution, which Congress designated as a memorial to President Kennedy in 1964 after he was assassinated the year before. The renaming also drew sharp criticism from the former President’s family, as Kennedy’s niece Mara Shriver made her feelings known on social media.

“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” Shriver said on X. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable It is not.”

“Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on. Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job. It’s downright weird. It’s obsessive in a weird way. Just when you think someone can’t stoop any lower, down they go.”

After his return to office earlier this year, Trump dramatically reshaped the performing arts center—first by gutting the current board of trustees and ousting the then chairman. Afterward, the president was elected chair of the center and appointed several new members to the board. This marks the second time that a federal building has been renamed after Trump.