Kennedy Center to be renamed ‘Trump-Kennedy Center,' Karoline Leavitt says

The board's decision to add Trump's name to the Kennedy Center could face legal hurdles, as the law creating the center prohibits renaming the building.

The Kennedy Center will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday on social media.

She said the name change recognizes President Donald Trump’s work to improve the institution.

“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have 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 saving the building,” Leavitt said in a post on X.

“Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” she continued.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was named by Congress.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Efforts to rename the Kennedy Center could run into legal hurdles, experts told NBC News in July, after Republican lawmakers introduced several proposals in Congress to rename the center in honor of the president or the first lady.

The original laws that guided the creation of the Kennedy Center during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations specifically prohibited the renaming of the building. It would take an act of Congress to change that now.

After GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho earlier this year first introduced the amendment to legislation that would rename the building after first lady Melania Trump, he said that she had not been aware of his efforts prior to his public introduction of the amendment.

Trump recently spoke about the 'Trump Kennedy Center'

Asked on Dec. 7 as he walked the red carpet for the Kennedy Center Honors program whether he would rename the venue after himself, Trump said such a decision would be up to the board.

Earlier this month, Trump talked about a “big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Center” before saying, “excuse me, at the Kennedy Center,” as his audience laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer draw for 2026, in which he participated.

A name change likely won’t sit well with some Kennedy family members.

Maria Shriver, a niece of John F. Kennedy, referred to the legislation introduced in Congress to rebrand the Kennedy Center as the Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts as “insane” in a social media post in July.

“It makes my blood boil. It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded,” she wrote. “Truly, what is this about? It’s always about something. ‘Let’s get rid of the Rose Garden. Let’s rename the Kennedy Center.’ What’s next?”

Trump earlier this year turned the Kennedy-era Rose Garden at the White House into a patio by removing the lawn and laying down paving stones.

In his second term, Trump quickly changed the Kennedy Center

A shift at the Kennedy Center began quickly after Trump's return to Washington in late January. Within a month, he ousted the institution’s leadership, filled the board of trustees with his supporters and announced he had been elected the board’s chair.

Trump and his aides criticized the Kennedy Center's programming as “woke" and accused the previous leadership of financial mismanagement and neglecting the building. Some renovations have been underway, including using white paint over columns that were previously gold.

Deborah Rutter, who was fired as the Kennedy Center's president, said in a May statement that allegations of poor financial management were “false” and insisted that when she left, “the Kennedy Center was fiscally sound.”

But the fallout has been intense with prominent musicals such as “Hamilton” canceling performances. Actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny also withdrew from appearances while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned. Some artists have expressed a sense of sadness at the changes.

“It was always a joy to be asked to perform at the Kennedy Center,” Jane Alexander, an actor and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, told The Associated Press.

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