Trump-appointed board OKs adding his name to Kennedy Center

KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS

People walk along the front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington today, after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the Kennedy Center board has decided to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.

WASHINGTON >> The Kennedy Center board, composed almost entirely of President Donald Trump’s allies, voted today to change the name of the performing arts center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House press secretary said.

It was not immediately clear what effect the vote would have, but it would not officially change the name of the center, which is by law designated the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, asserted that the board’s vote was unanimous, but Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, one of the lawmakers granted a spot on the board, said on social media that she “was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition.”

It has been generally understood that the power to change the center’s name lies with Congress.

Republican lawmakers in the House had advanced a proposal earlier this year to rename the center’s Opera House after Melania Trump, the first lady.

The vote today was the latest effort by Trump to remake the center in his image. Earlier this year, Trump purged the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and installed himself as its chair.

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Trump has since carried out some of the most sweeping changes in the Kennedy Center’s 54 years.

Dozens of employees have been fired or quit. Outsiders with few obvious qualifications have been handed top jobs. The center’s head of human resources estimated that staffing was down 30% since Trump took over.

The center’s box-office performance has stalled during Trump’s time as chair. Internal sales figures obtained by The New York Times showed ticket sales down by about 50% during one typical week in October compared with the same period last year.

Close allies and subordinates of Trump sit on the board of trustees, including Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; Pam Bondi, the attorney general; Usha Vance, the second lady; Dan Scavino, the head of the presidential personnel office; Elaine Chao, the former secretary of transportation; and Ric Grenell, who had sought to be secretary of state but instead was appointed the Kennedy Center’s president.

Because Trump is the board’s chair, he is one of the members of the board who would have had a vote on whether to rename the center for himself. It is not clear if he participated in the vote, and he claimed soon after that the whole thing was a surprise.

“I was honored by it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it. I was honored by it.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company

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