The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts is set to be renamed The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

CNN is reporting that the board of Trustees voted to rename the performing arts center in a unanimous vote.

Spokeswoman Roma Daravi said in a statement, “The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts… The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction. The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come.”

According to the news outlet, the vote took place during a board meeting, which consists of Trump allies.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added, “I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the 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. 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.”

Since the Trump took over the Kennedy Center, the President has suggested that he would rename the center, though he continuously said it was a joke.

The renaming of the Kennedy Center will violate the law by which the Kennedy Center was created. Earlier this year, NBC News reported “that 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.'”

Additionally, The Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act (H.R. 4715), which was introduced by Rep. Bob Onder in July 2025, to rename the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to the Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts has not passed and faces significant legislative and legal hurdles.

Throughout the past months, the Kennedy Center has seen ticket sales plummet and several artists have canceled their participation at the center. Additionally, the Washington National Opera has suggested that it could leave the center and perform in another venue.

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