Europe (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty sued to block renaming the Kennedy Centre to the Trump-Kennedy Centre; Trump’s allies control the board, $257M has been funded for renovations, and the Kennedy family criticised the change.
As BBC News reported, democratic U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty has filed a lawsuit to stop the renaming of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts to the Trump-Kennedy Centre. The decision came after the Kennedy Centre’s board, which includes many of former President Donald Trump’s allies, voted last week to add Trump’s name to the institution.
Beatty, one of several Democratic lawmakers appointed to the board by law, says the name change is illegal because it requires an act of Congress. She also claims that during the board meeting, she was muted when she tried to speak against the change, blocking her from participating and raising questions about the fairness of the process.
What is the controversy over renaming the Kennedy Centre the Trump-Kennedy?
In her lawsuit, Beatty said the Kennedy Centre was created as a “living memorial” to President John F. Kennedy. The center was meant to honour his legacy in the arts and public service. Beatty argues that adding Trump’s name undermines this goal and politicises a national cultural institution. She also says the board ignored federal rules by acting without Congress.
“[I]n scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic – the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied centre after President Trump,”
the lawsuit states.
In a statement provided to the BBC,
the White House said Trump had “stepped up” and saved the Kennedy Centre “by strengthening its finances, modernising the building, and ending divisive woke programming”.
“As a result, the Board of the Kennedy Centre voted unanimously to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Centre – a historic move that marks a new era of success, prestige, and restored grandeur for one of America’s most iconic cultural institutions,”
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
On Friday, Dec 19, 2025, the name of former President Donald Trump was added to the outside of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts. The centre’s website now shows the logo as
“The Trump Kennedy Centre.”
Joe Kennedy III, a former House member and grandnephew of the late president, said that
“the Kennedy Centre is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law”
“It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,”
he added.
Originally proposed in the 1950s, Congress decided to name the performing arts centre in honour of President Kennedy after he was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963. Just a few months after assuming the presidency, President Trump appointed his supporters to fill vacancies on the centre’s board of directors, giving him the benefit of having his friends as board members, resulting in them voting to make him chairman of the board. Also, one of President Trump’s advisors, Richard Grenell, became the president of the board at that time.
According to the Kennedy Centre’s website, the board now includes 34 members appointed by Trump and 23 others designated by U.S. law, combining political appointees and statutory members. Trump also secured about $257 million in congressional funding for renovations and other costs, saying the centre was in “bad shape.”
