Kennedy Centre adds Donald Trump’s name to performing arts institution in Washington

The Kennedy Centre said the vote recognised Trump’s work to revitalise the institution but critics of the vote, including Democratic members of Congress who are ex-officio board members, as well as some historians, insist that only Congress can change the centre’s name.

“The Kennedy Centre was named by law. To change the name would require a revision of that 1964 law,” Ray Smock, a former House historian, said in an email.

“The Kennedy Centre board is not a lawmaking entity. Congress makes laws.”

The Kennedy family has also spoken out against the move.

“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family, said in a post on X on Thursday, when the board’s decision was first announced.

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Kerry Kennedy, a niece of John F. Kennedy, said in a social post on X that she will remove Trump’s name herself when his term ends.

“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in?” she wrote on a photo of the centre’s new name. “Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!”

Bloomberg, AP