President Donald Trump is moving forward with plans to reshape the Kennedy Center. On Tuesday, Aug. 12, he teased the annual Kennedy Center Honors on Truth Social, jokingly calling it the “TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER.”
“Great nominees for the Kennedy Center Awards will be announced Wednesday,” Trump wrote. “We’re spending money to bring it back to the top level of luxury, glamour, and entertainment. It had fallen on hard times, but it will soon make a major comeback!”
The Kennedy Center, which opened in 1971, is located along the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It serves as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy and is one of the nation’s leading performing arts venues.
A few days into his second term, Trump promised to “make the Kennedy Center great again.” He named himself chairman, replaced most of its leadership with conservative allies, and appointed Richard Grenell as president and interim director.
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“I want it to run properly,” Trump said. “We don’t need woke shows at the Kennedy Center. Some of them were terrible.”
Following these changes, Trump’s supporters began pushing to rename parts of the center. On July 22, the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump.
The next day, Missouri Rep. Bob Onder introduced the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act,” which would rename the entire facility the Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts. Onder praised Trump as a major cultural figure, citing his TV show The Apprentice, film cameos, and his hosting of Saturday Night Live.
The Kennedy Center was originally planned in the 1950s as the National Cultural Center. By the time construction began in 1964—shortly after JFK’s assassination—it was rededicated as a memorial to him. Today, it hosts the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, and many other performances.
The Kennedy Center Honors, held each year, recognize outstanding contributions to American culture and the arts.
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Some members of the Kennedy family strongly oppose Trump’s plans. Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson, pointed to a 1983 law that prohibits renaming parts of the center. “Plain reading of the statute makes clear — YOU CAN’T DO THAT,” he wrote online.
Maria Shriver, JFK’s niece, also criticized the idea, calling it “ridiculous, petty, and small-minded” in a post on X.
