Kennedy Center Board Votes to Rename Venue Trump-Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center board has voted to rename the Washington, D.C. venue the Trump-Kennedy Center this week.

The White House announced the news in a social media post on Thursday.

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

Roma Darvai, a representative for the Kennedy Center, also confirmed in a statement, writing, “the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

“The unanimous vote recognizes that the current chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction,” Darvai continued. “The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come.”

While the White House claims the vote was unanimous, House representative Joyce Beatty from Ohio wrote on social media that this claim was false.

“I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move,” Beatty said. “Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship.”

The Kennedy Center, which operates as a national cultural institution supported by both public funding and private donations, has faced criticism and political scrutiny since Trump’s appointment. The President previously said that he plans to eliminate drag shows and “woke” art at the venue, though admitted he has never actually seen a show at the institution. Shows have been cancelled, including the production “Finn” and the award-winning “Hamilton.” “Legally Blonde” has also been postponed.

Additionally, longtime member Jeffrey Finn, who has overseen programming at the Washington, D.C. venue since 2016, announced his departure from the venue earlier this year. This was the latest departure at the Kennedy Center after Trump took-over the venue, installed himself as chairman of the board, and replaced Rutter with loyalist Richard Grenell as president.

Since Trump’s new appointees, ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have dropped sharply this fall, with a new Washington Post analysis showing that the venue sold only 57% of its available tickets since September — a steep decline from 93% during the same period last year.

The report points to a roughly 40% drop in seats sold and a 50% decline in total revenue since Trump was appointed chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board earlier this year. Out of 143,000 available seats, about 53,000 went unsold — and some of those tickets were reportedly given away as complimentary “comps.”

Trump also recently revealed that he would be hosting the Kennedy Center Honors, marking the first time in the ceremony’s history that a president will formally host the annual cultural event.

“It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done,” Trump said, adding that past ceremonies had drawn “pretty good ratings,” but “there’s nothing like what’s going to happen” on the Sunday, Dec. 23 event.