A Missouri Republican in the House is pushing a bill to strip John F. Kennedy's name from Washington's famed performing arts center and rechristen it as the "Trump Center for the Performing Arts." Rep. Bob Onder introduced the proposal, dubbing it the Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act—a nod to President Trump's MAGA campaign slogan, per the Hill. Onder describes Trump as a "patron of the arts" and a major figure in American pop culture, arguing that Trump's name better represents American exceptionalism in those areas and in entertainment.
Neither Onder's office nor the Kennedy Center responded to requests for comment. The move comes amid other GOP efforts to mark Trump's legacy on the capital's cultural institutions. Earlier this month, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee backed an amendment to rename the Kennedy Center's well-known opera house after Melania Trump, citing her support for the arts. Sources tell NBC News, however, that making such name changes would violate the law under which the Kennedy Center was created, with those shifts needing congressional approval.
"The only real wild card is whether Trump or his allies ignore the law entirely and try to do it unilaterally," says a spokesperson for Rep. Chellie Pingree, the lead Dem on the Appropriations' subcommittee on the interior. "But that would have no legal basis—and would almost certainly trigger a court fight." The proposed changes have sparked sharp criticism from Trump detractors, including JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who took to social media to accuse the Trump administration of prioritizing "freedom of oppression, not expression."
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Deadline reports that Maria Shriver, JFK's niece, also weighed in, calling the move "insane." "It makes my blood boil," Shriver wrote on X. "It's so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded. ... 'Let's get rid of the Rose Garden. Let's rename the Kennedy Center.' What's next?" Trump's recent history with the Kennedy Center is a controversial one, after he replaced its board and named himself chair, claiming the institution had become too "woke."
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