The board of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., voted to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center, a spokesperson for the arts institution said.
“The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction,” Roma Daravi, the center’s Vice President of Public Relations, said in a statement. “The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come.”
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
The news prompted swift backlash from some members of the Kennedy family, including some who suggested the change might not be lawful.
Former Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, a grandnephew of the former president, said in a statement, “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”
Kerry Kennedy, a niece of the former president and the sister of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also condemned the change, writing, “President Trump and his administration have spent the past year repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just.”
She added, “President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s.”
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.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the board, disputed the account that the vote was “unanimous.”
“For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move,” the congresswoman wrote in a post on X.
In remarks to reporters later Thursday at the White House, Trump said he was “surprised” and “honored” by the board’s vote to change the center’s name.
“This was brought up by one of the very distinguished board members, and they voted on it, and there’s a lot of board members, and they voted unanimously. So I was very honored,” he added.
Beatty told reporters at the Capitol later Thursday that the question of renaming the Kennedy Center was not on the agenda provided to board members before Thursday’s meeting and she was surprised when it came up.
“I said, ‘I have something to say,’ and I was muted, and as I continued to try to unmute to ask questions and voiced my opposition to this, I received a note saying that I would not be unmuted,” the congresswoman told reporters, adding, “I was cut off.”
In a statement, Daravi pushed back on Beatty’s assertion that she wasn’t able to speak up in the meeting, saying the congresswoman was granted “the privilege” to listen in.
“The entire board was invited to attend in person and the privilege of listening in on the meeting was granted to all members, even those without a vote, such as ex-officio member Joyce Beatty,” Daravi said in a statement to NBC News.
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 introduced an 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.
Since the start of his second term, the president has sought to reshape the Kennedy Center and its programming.
In February, he abruptly fired members of the center’s board and installed himself as chair, writing in a post on Truth Social at the time, “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN.”
In that post, he specifically cited his disapproval of the center’s decision to host drag shows.
Weeks later, the newly installed members of the Kennedy Center board, including second lady Usha Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Trump advisers Dan Scavino and Sergio Gor, officially elected Trump as board chair.
Later this year, ahead of Pride Month, the Kennedy Center informed some Pride event organizers that they would no longer be able to host some Pride gatherings.
Trump hosted this year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony this month, an annual event honoring legends in music, movies, television and culture. And just last month, the Kennedy Center was the site of FIFA’s World Cup draw, an event attended and oft-touted by the president.
The president in the past has referred to the cultural institution as the “Trump/Kennedy Center,” writing in a post on Truth Social in August, “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER.”
