Kennedy Center gets renamed to Trump-Kennedy Center
Thursday, December 25, 2025
Correction — March 14, 2026
An earlier version of this article included several statements not supported by the cited sources, including claims that individuals cited the Kennedy Center Act of 1964, that commentator Rachel Maddow said the building would be torn down and renamed, and that unnamed individuals continued referring to it as "The Kennedy Center." These statements have been removed. The article has also been corrected to clarify that the change followed a vote by the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, not by President Donald Trump, and to clarify the wording that appears on the center's signage.
The previous version of the article text can be found here.
(Image missing from Commons: image; log)
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has been renamed after a vote by the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. The signage of the center was changed on December 20, 2025, and now reads "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
This renaming was also under scrutiny by experts and officials like U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty. Several, have called it "illegal," citing The Kennedy Center Act of 1964: "SEC. 11. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, designated by this Act, shall be the sole national memorial to the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy within the city of Washington and its environs."
Sources
- Sophia Barnes, Aimee Cho, News4 reporter, and NBC Washington Staff. Trump's name installed on Kennedy Center without legal approval by Congress — NBC4 Washington, December 19, 2025
- Joe Calabrese. Donald Trump's name added to Kennedy Center day after renaming vote — FOX 5 DC, December 19, 2025
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