Get Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center!

Trump abruptly announced that his handpicked Kennedy Center board of directors will shut down the venue to performances for two years.

After Trump’s cronies rigged the Kennedy Center board vote to put Trump’s name on the historic American institution, artists canceled performances in protest and ticket sales plummeted. Trump says it’s closing for renovations, but it looks a lot more like he’s trying to save himself from embarrassment. NPR reports that neither Trump nor his ally at the head of the Kennedy Center have provided any proof of the need for such large-scale renovations.

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to reverse the Kennedy Center name change and save the institution from Trump’s personal vendettas.

Sign the petition: Block Trump’s Kennedy Center name change and save the venue from closing!

Sen. Sanders said Trump is trying to create a “myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history.”

The Kennedy Center follows a long line of landmarks and high-profile entities that Trump or his MAGA allies are trying to put his name or face on: Mount Rushmore, U.S. currency, the D.C. airport and metro, a class of American battleships, and more.

Trump hammered his name into the Kennedy Center as he destroyed the East Wing of the White House to build a $300 million corporate-funded gold-plated ballroom. Trump put on a grotesque military parade on his birthday and paved over the Rose Garden. He put his name on the United States Institute of Peace.

These are the glorification projects of an authoritarian. Congress must protect the law, democracy, and America’s most important historical and cultural institutions from Trump.

Sign the petition: Get Trump’s name off of the Kennedy Center and stop him from shuttering the performing arts venue.

SOURCES:
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/kennedy-center-dc-closed-trump
- https://www.npr.org/2026/01/20/nx-s1-5675192/kennedy-center-canceled-performances
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/12/31/kennedy-center-board-trustees-bylaws/
- https://www.npr.org/2026/02/01/nx-s1-5695832/kennedy-center-renovations-trump
- https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-van-hollen-alsobrooks-introduce-bill-to-ban-presidents-from-naming-buildings-after-themselves/
- https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-gop-efforts-put-trumps-name-face-things-2105146
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/20/elizabeth-warren-trump-ballroom
- https://www.npr.org/2025/12/04/g-s1-100576/trump-institute-of-peace-name

IMAGE ATTRIBUTION: NOAA