White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Kennedy Center Board unanimously voted to change the name “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”

Kennedy Center gets new name that we all saw coming after Trump takeover

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Kennedy Center Board unanimously voted to change the name "because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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and Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

EW's editorial guidelines

December 18, 2025 3:30 p.m. ET

Donald J. Trump at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors. Credit:

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

The Kennedy Center is getting a new name.**

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday that the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will officially be renamed the "Trump-Kennedy Center."**

"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 wrote on X.

"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!" she continued. "The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur."**

However, Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty contested Leavitt’s version of events in her own social media post. “For the record. This was not unanimous,” she wrote. “I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship.”

Beatty, who serves as an ex-officio member on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, claimed in a video message that she was muted when trying to “to voice my concerns, to ask questions, and certainly not to vote in support” of the name change. **

“Yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote,” she continued. “Clearly, the Congress has a say in this. This center, The Kennedy Center, was created by the Congress. I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people have a say.” **

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The Trump administration previously removed the Joe Biden-appointed 18 board members in February, including then-board chairman David M. Rubenstein and the institution's longtime president, Deborah F. Rutter. The board ordinarily consists of bipartisan members, but its current iteration is now made up entirely of Trump appointees, including Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, and the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

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The former Kennedy Center previously announced in February that the president himself would serve as the new chairman of the board. "It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees," Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. "We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!"**

Elle King performing at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.

Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty

Hours after that announcement, *Grey’s Anatomy* showrunner and Shondaland CEO Shonda Rhimes resigned from her position on the board as treasurer. That same month, Issa Rae also canceled her Kennedy Center appearance “due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values” of the institution. **

In August, Trump announced George Strait, Kiss, Michael Crawford, Sylvester Stallone, and Gloria Gaynor as the first group of Kennedy Center Honors recipients under his leadership.**

While handing out medals at the ceremony earlier this month, the president joked about how his hosting gig would be perceived. "I'm sure they'll give me great reviews, right? You know, they'll say he was horrible. He was terrible. It was a horrible situation," he said. “No, we’ll do fine.”

This may not be the only Kennedy Center building getting a name change either. In July, Republican lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee tried to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump by slipping an amendment into a spending bill. **

"This is an excellent way to recognize [the First Lady's] support and commitment to promoting the arts," Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson said at the time, per ABC News.

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