Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is set to be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center after the Trump-handpicked board backed the move in a vote.
The name change has been criticised as a “disgrace” by the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, who is also on the board.
Kennedy family members have also hit out at the decision.
But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move recognises the “unbelievable work President Trump has done over the past year to save the building”.
“Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation,” she said in a post on social media.
Mr Jeffries said the president’s handpicked board had no authority to rename Washington’s leading performing arts centre in the absence of legislative action, “and we’re going to make that clear”.
The New York Democrat is an ex officio member of the board because of his position in Congress.
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And former US Representative Joe Kennedy III, a grandnephew of the late president, wrote on X: “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.”
President Trump, a Republican who is also the board’s chairman, frequently calls the building, which honours the former Democrat president, the “Trump-Kennedy Centre”.
After taking little interest in it during his first term in office, Mr Trump launched a revamp of the institution shortly after returning to power.
He ousted its chair and installed a new board that made Mr Trump the chair instead. He also fired the centre’s long-time president, Deborah Rutter.
On 7 December, while walking the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honours programme, Mr Trump was asked if he planned to rename the venue after himself. He replied that the decision would be up to the board.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump mentioned a “big event on Friday at the Trump-Kennedy Centre” before correcting himself with, “excuse me, at the Kennedy Centre”, prompting laughter from the audience.
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He was referring to the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer draw, in which he took part and was awarded FIFA’s new peace prize.
Mr Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, 1963. The centre has been seen as a memorial to him and the ideals he espoused.
In a social media post in July, Maria Shriver, a niece of former president Kennedy, hit out at “insane” legislation introduced in Congress to rebrand the Kennedy Centre as the Donald J Trump Centre for the Performing Arts.
“It makes my blood boil. It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small-minded,” she wrote. “Truly, what is this about? It’s always about something. ‘Let’s get rid of the Rose Garden. Let’s rename the Kennedy Center.’ What’s next?”
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Earlier this year, President Trump transformed the Kennedy-era Rose Garden at the White House into a patio, replacing the lawn with paving stones.
He has also had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make way for a new ballroom.
Mr Trump has also renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” under a 2025 executive order and rebranded the United States Institute of Peace as the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace.
