Workers Begin Adding Trump Name to Kennedy Center

Members of the Kennedy family are strongly objecting to a move to rebrand the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the "Trump-Kennedy Center." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the name change Thursday, saying a board appointed by Trump earlier this year had unanimously backed the switch. Democrats argued that the change can't legally happen without congressional approval, since the center is a congressionally designated memorial to the 35th president, Axios reports. But by Friday morning, work was already underway to add Trump's name to the Washington, DC, arts institution, the AP reports.

• Jack Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy's grandson, disputed the White House's account of the vote, saying on X that microphones were turned off and that the decision was "NOT unanimous." Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, said she was on the call Thursday 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," the Hill reports.
• Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, JFK's grandnephew, argued that the Kennedy Center's status is akin to other federal memorials. "The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law, the Democrat said in a post on X. "It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says." The law that established the center designates it as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and requires the board to assure that "no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas," the Washington Post reports.

• JFK niece Kerry Kennedy, head of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, accused Trump of backing a name change while presiding over a year of efforts to "repress free expression" and marginalize artists and journalists. She said her uncle's values—justice, equality, and compassion—clash with Trump's and that the two names should not be paired.
• Maria Shriver, daughter of JFK's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, called Trump's behavior "downright weird." "It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy," she said in a post 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."
• Weeks after he returned to office, Trump fired members of the board, appointed new ones, and named himself chairman. He has referred to the center as the Trump Kennedy Center multiple times in recent weeks. On Thursday, he claimed he was surprised by the name change, the New York Times reports. "I was honored by it," he told reporters. "The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it."