Kennedy Center gets new signage bearing Trump’s name

Kennedy Center gets new signage bearing Trump’s name

Kaanita Iyer, Betsy Klein, CNN

Fri, December 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM UTC

2 min read

Workers on a forklift stand near the letters "The Donald" above the signage on the Kennedy Center on Friday, December 19, 2025. - Mark Schiefelbein/AP

New signage is being installed at Washington, DC’s performing arts center on Friday to include President Donald Trump’s name.

It comes after the institution’s board of trustees voted a day earlier to rename the facility to honor the president.

The building, known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has been renamed by the trustees to the Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

However, the legality of the move remains in question. It is unclear if the board has the authority to rename the arts institution, which Congress designated as a memorial to Kennedy in 1964 following his assassination the year before.

Workers begin adjusting the name of the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" on December 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. - Heather Diehl/Getty Images

The renaming drew criticism from the Kennedy family, with Maria Shriver, Kennedy’s niece, calling the effort to rename the memorial after Trump “beyond comprehension.”

Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday touted what he described as “record-setting numbers” in donors and previewed plans to get Congress to invest more money in the center.

“We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially and every other way. And now it’s very solid, very strong,” he said.

The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted in what they say was a unanimous decision to rename the facility “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts”. - Heather Diehl/Getty Images

After returning to office, Trump dramatically reshaped the performing arts center, gutting the board of trustees and ousting its chairman. And soon after, the president was elected chair of the center following his appointment of several new members to the board.

The new signage marks the second time this month that a federal building has been renamed after Trump.

The president’s name was installed on the building and signage around the US Institute of Peace, an independent agency, on December 3. USIP was also gutted earlier this year as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government.

CNN’s Betsy Klein and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

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