Updated on: December 19, 2025 / 12:44 PM EST / CBS News
Add CBS News on GoogleWashington — The Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees voted to rename the performing arts institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House press secretary Karoline Leitt said Thursday.
"I he just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, he 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 sing the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation," Leitt wrote on X.
Roma Dari, the Kennedy Center's vice president of public relations, confirmed the vote by the board to name the performing arts institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
"The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman sed the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction," Dari said in a statement. "The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America's cultural center for generations to come."
By Thursday afternoon, the Kennedy Center website had updated its logo to read "The Trump Kennedy Center."
Mr. Trump moved to put his stamp on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts soon after he returned to the White House for his second term. He removed Democratic-appointed members of its board and installed his allies and administration officials to the panel. The board also consists of local and federal officials, as well as members of the House and Senate from both parties. Trustees serve six-year terms.
Richard Grenell, who worked in the first Trump administration, serves as the Kennedy Center's president. The board in February selected Mr. Trump to serve as its chairman.
Among the members appointed by the president are White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi and second lady Usha Vance.
Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House that he was "honored" and "surprised" by the vote, and praised the board as "very distinguished."
"We're sing the building. We sed the building," he said. "Now it's very solid, very strong."
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves on the Board of Trustees, disputed that the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was unanimous, as Leitt said. She wrote on X that she "was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda."
"Clearly the Congress has a say in this," she said in a video shared to X. "This center, The Kennedy Center, was created by the Congress. I think it's important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people he a say."
Kennedy's niece, Maria Shriver, blasted the move in a lengthy social media post, writing that it was "beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy's name is acceptable. It is not."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the move.
"Beyond using the Kennedy Center to reward his friends and political allies, President Trump is now attempting to affix his name to yet another public institution without legal authority," Schumer and several other Democrats who serve as ex officio board members said in a statement. "This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump Administration."
Mr. Trump had pledged to make "a lot of changes" to the Kennedy Center, "including the seats, the decor, pretty much everything."
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was established by Congress as the national center for performing arts and a living memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy and opened its doors in 1971. It recognizes achievements in music, theater and dance each year with its honors ceremony. The Kennedy Center Honors, which Mr. Trump hosted, will air on CBS television stations and Paramount+ on Tuesday.
The law establishing the Kennedy Center restricts "additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials" to be designated or installed.
Because the Kennedy Center was created by Congress, any change to its name would appear to require approval from lawmakers. Still, Mr. Trump from sought to unilaterally make sweeping changes to other federal entities that would require congressional action.
The president in September signed an executive order to begin the process of renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War. The directive allowed the Pentagon to start using Department of War as a "secondary title" and let Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth use the title of secretary of war.
Mr. Trump also signed an executive order in March that sought to dismantle the Department of Education. Fully eliminating the agency would require an act of Congress.
House Republicans he already proposed renaming the Kennedy Center's opera house after first lady Melania Trump.
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