White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday announced that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ board of trustees had voted to rename the more than 50-year-old venue to the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
“Some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” Leavitt wrote to 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!” Leavitt continued. “The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.”
In a video posted to X less than an hour after Leavitt’s post, ex officio board member Rep. Joyce Beatty said the vote took place in a group call that President Donald Trump called in to, and that it “was not unanimous.”
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“I was on that call, and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions, and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted,” Beatty said. “Each time I tried to speak, I was muted. Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns.”
In one of his first presidential actions earlier this year, Trump fired and replaced many of the Kennedy Center’s board members, who then appointed him chair. Since then, the performing arts center has made changes to its programming, including removing LGBTQ+ events. The structure itself is also undergoing renovations.
It’s unclear whether the new name will only be symbolic, considering it is Congress that statutorily named the structure and must grant the board permission to change it.
But by mid-afternoon Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s website featured the name “The Trump Kennedy Center” at the top of its homepage.
The Kennedy Center’s X social media account also re-shared a post from the center’s president, Richard Grenell, saying: “The Trump Kennedy Center shows a bipartisan commitment to the Arts.”
“Clearly, the Congress has a say in this,” Beatty continued in her video message. “The Kennedy Center was created by the Congress, [and] I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people have a say.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Speaking at a Kennedy Center Honors ceremony last week, Trump appeared to make a joke about mistakenly calling the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center.
“I’ll tell you what, the Trump-Kennedy Center, I mean Kennedy Center, I’m sorry,” Trump teased.
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