President Donald Trump ramped up his campaign to take over the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, Aug. 12, as he previewed the annual Kennedy Center Honors on social media.
“GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS. They will be announced Wednesday,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Tremendous work is being done, and money being spent, on bringing it back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment.”
“It had fallen on hard times, physically, BUT WILL SOON BE MAKING A MAJOR COMEBACK!!!,” the president continued, seemingly speaking about the Kennedy Center building, which is located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
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The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts
Just a few days into his second presidential term, Trump announced his plans to “make the Kennedy Center great again.” He installed himself as chairman and purged most of its so-called “woke” leadership, installing a new board of conservative supporters in their place.
He also appointed Richard Grenell, a member of his administration, as the institution’s president and interim director.
“I want to make sure it runs properly,” Trump said at the time. “We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center, and we don’t need — some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace that they were even put on.”
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After Trump changed the Kennedy Center’s leadership and programming, his supporters expressed interest in updating the name of the cultural institution.
On July 22, the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee voted 33-25 to approve an amendment that calls to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House — one of the center’s three main theaters — for first lady Melania Trump.
The amendment is folded into a larger bill that’s intended to allocate funding for the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies during the upcoming fiscal year. The bill has not yet been approved by the full House, which is now on an extended summer break.
The following day, Missouri Rep. Bob Onder introduced a bill that proposed to rename the entire Kennedy Center for Trump, making it the Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.
Dubbed the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act,” Onder’s bill said that Trump has “entertained audiences for decades,” citing his reality show, The Apprentice, cameos in movies like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and the fact that he is the only U.S. president to host Saturday Night Live.
“You would be hard pressed to find a more significant cultural icon in the past 40 years than President Trump,” the congressman wrote. “President Trump’s love and mastery of entertainment has stood the test of time and allowed him to capture Americans’ attention for decades. I cannot think of a more ubiquitous symbol of American exceptionalism in the arts, entertainment, and popular culture at large than President Trump.”
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the opening night of ‘Les Miserables’ at The Kennedy Center on June 11, 2025
Plans for the Kennedy Center, originally set to be named the National Cultural Center, began in the 1950s, however, by the time ground was broken to begin construction in December 1964, it had been rededicated as a “living memorial” for JFK, who was assassinated the year prior.
The institution officially opened as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 8, 1971, and is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, as well as dozens of performances each year.
Each year, the Kennedy Center Honors recognize a handful of actors, musicals, cultural institutions, and more, “paying tribute to our nation’s preeminent artists,” according to the center’s website.
“Throughout its 47-year history, the Kennedy Center Honors has redefined America’s perception of its artistic legacy and reinvented the way this nation rewards its artists. The Honors have been compared to a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor — the quintessential reward for a lifetime’s endeavor.”
Trump’s fixation on the Kennedy Center has drawn plenty of ire from members of JFK’s family, who see the institution as an important part of the late president’s legacy.
In July, Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s only grandson, shared a post on Instagram highlighting a federal law that aims to prevent the renaming of any part of the famous institution.
The statute that Schlossberg shared states that as of Dec. 2, 1983, “no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
“Plain reading of the statute makes clear — YOU CAN’T DO THAT,” Schlossberg, 32, wrote in the caption of his post.
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Another Kennedy family member, Maria Shriver, 69, posted on X about Onder’s bill, saying it made her “blood boil.”
“This is insane,” she wrote. “It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small-minded. 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?”
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