Following the illegal renaming of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO (AGMA) and the Kennedy Center Arts Workers United have released statements. 

In the first statement by AGMA said, “We all heard that Trump wants to rename the Kennedy Center. Established by Congress in federal law, the Kennedy Center is a living memorial that ‘serves all of the people of the United States.’ The Kennedy Center was not named by preference or politics, and changing its name would require an act of Congress. Wanting something doesn’t make it so. History, governance, and the law still matter. It’s been heartbreaking to watch what’s happened at the Kennedy Center over the past year, as audiences and performers alike react to political shifts within the institution. Our focus remains firmly where it has always been: on arts workers and on solidarity.”

Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center Arts Workers United said, “In 1964, Congress established the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a living memorial to President Kennedy. Only Congress can change its name.”

The renaming of the building has sparked outrage as the legality remains in question. According to NBC News, “the law creating the center prohibited any of the facilities from being renamed, other than the Eisenhower Theater, after the president whose administration first authorized its construction in 1958. The project stalled and was revived under President John F. Kennedy, whose family led an effort to get the center built and named in his honor following his assassination. Two months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation making it a living memorial to Kennedy. According to U.S. code, ‘After December 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.’”

As for Congress, a bill (the “Make Entertainment Great Again” bill) was introduced to change the name but it hasn’t been passed. The lawmaking body has finished its session for 2025, though some posit that it has been in a “coma” for most of the current president’s term.

Nonetheless, the president and his administration have already changed the facade of the building and updated the website to “Donald J. trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

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