Hands Off the Kennedy Center

Yesterday, it was announced that a politically reshaped Kennedy Center Board voted to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the Trump-Kennedy Center. This unprecedented act threatens the integrity of a national cultural landmark.


 Congress created the Kennedy Center as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and as a nonpartisan home for the performing arts. Its name is not symbolic fluff. It is written into federal law and represents a public trust meant to outlast any single administration.

Yet after President Trump removed long-serving trustees and reappointed loyalists to the board — then named himself chair — that same board voted to change the Center’s name to the Trump-Kennedy Center. This move did not come from artists, audiences, or the American public. It came from a board reshaped to serve one man’s political interests.

Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. A board vote cannot override the law or rewrite history. Legal experts and arts leaders have warned that this action undermines both the statute that created the Center and the principle that cultural institutions must remain independent from partisan control.

The Kennedy Center hosts thousands of performances each year and welcomes millions of visitors from every background. Turning it into a political monument sets a dangerous precedent and risks chilling artistic expression nationwide.

Demand that Congress keep the name of the Kennedy Center.