On Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the performing arts institution after U.S. President Donald Trump, a decision some of the late former president John F. Kennedy’s family members oppose — including his niece, Maria Shriver.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the name change on social media on Thursday, saying the board had voted unanimously to adopt it. By Friday morning, its website masthead had been updated to reflect its new name, and now reads “The Trump 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. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation,” Leavitt wrote.
New signs appeared on the centre’s facade on Friday, to include President Trump’s name.
Leavitt also congratulated former president Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
“Congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team for the long term! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” she added.
Shriver responded to the announcement with a lengthy Instagram message that reiterated her late uncle’s love and dedication to the arts and strongly disapproved of the change, calling it “beyond comprehension.”
“The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists,” she wrote.
“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny.”
On Thursday, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “surprised” by the decision, despite having fired all of the centre’s board members and replaced them with his allies — including Attorney General Pam Bondi, second lady Usha Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — shortly after taking office in January.
It came to light in July that Republicans wanted to rename the Kennedy Center, but that doing so would be illegal.
Three previous Kennedy Center board members told NBC News at the time that renaming the historic site would contravene the laws under which it was created; they said legislation prohibits any part of the Washington, D.C.-based facility from undergoing a name change because it’s considered an official memorial to John F. Kennedy.
It is unclear how, or even if, Trump overcame the legal hurdles to rename the centre.
The president also secured about US$257 million from Congress to fund major renovations and other costs associated with the venue, which recently hosted the FIFA World Cup draw, where Trump was awarded a peace prize.
“We saved it,” Trump said about the arts centre on Thursday. “It was really in bad shape, physically.”
At least one board member has disputed Leavitt’s claim that the vote to rename the centre was unanimous.
“This was not unanimous,” Ohio Democratic representative and board member Joyce Beatty said, the BBC reported. “I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move.”
Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who is currently running for Congress in New York, wrote on X that “Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous.”
Joe Kennedy III, a former House member and great-nephew of Kennedy, wrote on X that “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,” he added.
Republicans passed an amendment in July to rename the Kennedy Center’s second-largest theatre, the Opera House, after Melania Trump to honour her support for the performing arts. Congress must vote to make the change, which it has yet to do.