In a move slammed by former US president John F Kennedy’s niece as “downright weird”, the White House says Washington’s leading performing arts venue will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Centre.

Trump Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote – by a board handpicked by Donald Trump – on social media on Thursday (US time).

She said it was because of the “unbelievable work President [Donald] Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation”.

Trump, a Republican who chairs the board, said he was honoured and surprised by the decision, even though he has often referred to the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, which is named for his Democratic predecessor, as the “Trump Kennedy Centre”.

“The Kennedy Centre is really, really back strongly,” he said after the vote. “It was in very bad shape.”

It will still take an act of Congress to officially rename the building, according to US media.

Maria Shriver, a niece of John F Kennedy, wrote on Instagram that it was “beyond wild” that the sitting president sought to rename the memorial to Kennedy, who she said had amplified and celebrated the arts.

“Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on,” she wrote.

 

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Shriver added: “This is not dignified. This is not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job. It’s downright weird. It’s obsessive in a weird way.”

JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg has also criticised the move, claiming: “Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous.”

His claims were supported by an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Centre Board, Joyce Beatty, who said on X that she was not allowed to voice her opposition to the name change.

“For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this  move,” Beatty wrote.

“Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship.”

For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship. https://t.co/D1zGV7xiWV pic.twitter.com/npNvSIy6sV

— Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) December 18, 2025

Asked on December 7 as he walked the red carpet for the Kennedy Centre Honours program whether he would rename the venue after himself, Trump said such a decision would be up to the board.

Earlier this month, he talked about a “big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Centre”, before saying, “excuse me, at the Kennedy Centre”, as his audience laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer draw for 2026, in which he participated.

Trump showed scant interest in the Kennedy Centre during his first term as US president. However, since returning to office in January he has replaced board members appointed by Democratic presidents with some of his most ardent supporters, who then elected him as board chairman.

He also has criticised the centre’s programming and its physical appearance, and has vowed to overhaul both.

Trump secured more than $250 million from the Republican-controlled Congress for renovations of the building.

He attended opening night of the musical Les Misérables, and last week he hosted the Kennedy Centre Honours program after not attending the show during his first term as president.

–AP