Politics
JUST IN: Historic DC Venue Set To Be Renamed After President Trump
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday that the board of Washington’s leading performing arts venue, the Kennedy Center, voted to amend title to include President Donald Trump.
“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,” Leavitt announced in an X post.
“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,” she 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…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) December 18, 2025
President Trump has implemented several changes at the Kennedy Center since his second term began.
Back in February, he removed multiple members of the board of trustees, including the previous chairman David M. Rubenstein, and appointed new trustees. The ousted members were then replaced with a number of Trump allies, including Second Lady Usha Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, and others like Allison Lutnick, Sergio Gor, and Pamela Gross. The restructured board then elected President Trump as its chairman.
The board terminated the contract of longtime president Deborah Rutter and appointed Richard Grenell, a former administration official who served in roles including ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, as interim president to oversee operations.
Trump was involved in selecting the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors recipients, which included actor Sylvester Stallone, country singer George Strait, disco singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band KISS, and actor-singer Michael Crawford. He presented the medals in an Oval Office ceremony, introduced a new medallion design, and hosted the Honors gala in December 2025, becoming the first sitting president to emcee the event.
Trump also moved to terminate a number of programming decisions that promoted left-wing social ideologies, including drag performances and brunches that had been featured in prior years.
The president had hinted at renaming the center in the past, including during the honors ceremony, when he jokingly referred to it as the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
When asked about the name change while taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Thursday, the president said he is “very honored.”
