Donald Trump’s name added to Kennedy Center memorial, prompting legal questions and criticism
The move has drawn criticism from some members of Congress, historians and members of the Kennedy family, who say the board does not have the legal authority to change the name.
December 20, 2025 12:40 PM IST
First published on: Dec 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM IST
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New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Kennedy Center has added US President Donald Trump’s name to the national performing arts centre that Congress created as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, following a vote by its board of trustees.
Workers moved quickly on Friday to change the signage at the building in Washington, with blue tarpaulins put up to shield the work from view. By the end of the day, the centre was renamed The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The decision was taken on Thursday by the Kennedy Center’s board, whose members were appointed by Trump. He is also the board’s chairman. In a statement, the Kennedy Center said the vote was meant to recognise Trump’s role in reviving the institution.
Reporting from the scene of the crime. Trump has slapped his name on the Kennedy Center. But we will never call it the Trump Kennedy Center: pic.twitter.com/DFlabMjZPJ
However, the move has drawn criticism from some members of Congress, historians and members of the Kennedy family, who say the board does not have the legal authority to change the name.
“The Kennedy Center was named by law,” said Ray Smock, a former House historian, in an email. “To change the name would require a revision of that 1964 law. The Kennedy Center board is not a lawmaking entity. Congress makes laws.”
Congress designated the Kennedy Center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy in 1964, a year after his assassination. The law states that the centre should not be turned into a memorial for anyone else, nor should another person’s name be placed on the building.
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Kerry Kennedy, a niece of John F. Kennedy, criticised the decision in a post on X. She said she planned to remove Trump’s name herself once his term as president ends.
“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building,” she wrote, adding that she would need help holding a ladder.
Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!! pic.twitter.com/ZLPhd7fU31
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New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
