The board of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Middle for the Performing Arts has voted to rename the establishment after President Donald J. Trump, based on an X post by White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, as a result of this can be a very nice crew lengthy into the longer term!” wrote Leavitt.
It’s not clear whether or not altering the middle’s identify is authorized with out congressional assist. As the Washington Put up beforehand pointed out, the Kennedy Middle’s Board of Trustees should not have the ability to modify the identify of any a part of the middle, nor to create any new memorials, in accordance with a federal statute (Public Legislation 88-260), which reads “the Board shall guarantee that after December 2, 1983, no extra memorials or plaques within the nature of memorials shall be designated or put in within the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts.”
In February, Trump appointed himself the brand new chairman of the honored Washington, D.C. venue, sometimes called the Kennedy Middle, and replaced its traditionally bipartisan board with all Republicans, together with second woman Usha Vance, Fox Information host Laura Ingraham, White Home deputy chief of employees Dan Scavino, U.S. legal professional basic Pamela Bondi, and “God Bless the usA.” songwriter Lee Greenwood, amongst others. Trump additionally fired then-president Deborah F. Rutler and put in former ambassador to Germany and performing director of nationwide intelligence Richard Grenell as interim govt director in her place.
Shortly afterwards, musician Yasmin Williams emailed Grenell to ask what modifications, if any, would happen on the Kennedy Middle underneath his function. Their “stunning” electronic mail alternate later went viral because of Grenell’s hostile language, disrespectful tone, and unfounded accusations. “It’s unhappy what’s occurring now as a result of I by no means considered the Kennedy Middle as a political place,” Williams stated in an interview with Pitchfork. “It’s only a place to see artwork. I simply considered it as a spot that’s accepting of everybody, the place politics don’t matter when you step by the door, however that’s clearly not the case anymore.”
This summer time, laws was launched in Congress to rebrand the Kennedy Middle because the Donald J. Trump Middle for the Performing Arts. Maria Shriver, a niece of the late President Kennedy, referred to as the laws “insane,” including: “It makes my blood boil. It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded. Really, what is that this about? It’s all the time about one thing. ‘Let’s eliminate the Rose Backyard. Let’s rename the Kennedy Middle.’ What’s subsequent?”
Throughout his first time period, Trump did not attend the 2017, 2018, or 2019 Kennedy Middle Honors, thus turning into the primary sitting president in historical past to skip the ceremony in back-to-back years. Firstly of 2025, Trump instructed reporters aboard Air Pressure One which he never watched any Kennedy Middle performances in any respect: “There was nothing I needed to see.”
