Historic Kennedy Center renamed to Trump-Kennedy Center in astonishing unveiling
D.C.’s premier cultural center will soon have a new name.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared on Thursday: ‘The Kennedy Center Board of Directors, comprised of the most accomplished people from around the world, has unanimously voted to rename the Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center.’
Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Affairs at the Kennedy Center, told the Daily Mail: ‘the unanimous vote recognized that the current President saved the institution from financial ruin and physical ruin.’
“The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects clear bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come,” Daravi added.
The center will now be known as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center.
During the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony earlier this month, reporters asked President Trump whether the entire Kennedy Center should bear his name.
He said at the time that the decision should be left to the institution’s board of directors.
Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told the Daily Mail earlier this month that President Donald Trump’s real estate background saved the 54-year-old historic structure from demolition.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on December 07, 2025
Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 7, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA.
“When I came into our building, people and our engineers said we should tear down the Kennedy Center, start completely over, and go to Congress and ask for a huge amount of money,” Grenell said.
Grenell took Trump on a tour to assess the damage firsthand. ‘We went downstairs and I showed him the collapsing sewer system,’ he said.
‘We’re getting cases from drivers who drove under the Kennedy Center; the concrete roof now falls on the cars. ‘Where was the media when this place was falling apart for the last five to seven years?’
Unlike the controversial decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House, Trump chose to save the Kennedy Center.
Choosing renovation over demolition, he told Grenell, “I can save it.” Trump asked Congress for $250 million for the project in the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill passed just before the bicameral recess on July 4.
Moments before Trump made history by becoming the first president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, he told reporters that the Center “will never be built again.”
‘It has three huge scenes; dance, theater and where we will be tonight. “There’s really nothing like it in the country,” Trump said.
President Donald J. Trump hosts the 48th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, which will air on Tuesday, December 23
Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Amb. Richard Grenell, Kennedy Center President Amb. Sergio Gor, Amb. Monica Crowley and (Front Row L-R) Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford pose for a class photo at the 48th Kennedy Center Medal of Honor Reception held at the U.S. State Department on December 06, 2025 in Washington DC
The center’s signature events are linked to significant opportunities to raise money for the venue and its programs.
According to Fox News, this year’s Kennedy Center Honors raised ‘a record $23 million’; That’s nearly double the $12.7 million raised last year under President Joe Biden’s administration.
According to the report, this transport was also the largest transport in history.
Grenell told the Daily Mail earlier this year that more than $2.5 million had been raised for the band ahead of the National Symphony Orchestra’s annual fundraising gala; this was more than $1 million above previous NSO galas.
The Kennedy Center’s press team also told the Daily Mail that a total of $131 million had been raised under Grenell’s leadership.
Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center has also become the center of heated political debate and has drawn varying reactions from the city’s arts community regarding recent changes in leadership and direction.
The Kennedy Center Honors were the final step to showcase the Center’s Trump-era revival, with the president himself hosting the awards ceremony.
Other name changes may be coming to the Center as funding legislation has been amended after First Lady Melania Trump, who serves as Honorary Chair of the Center’s Board of Trustees, proposed renaming the opera house.
The move was encouraged by Republican Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho, who is chairman of the House Interior and Environmental Appropriations Subcommittee.
‘Naming a theater after him is a great way to show his appreciation for the arts,’ Rep Simpson said at the time.
The measure was approved by Simpson’s committee by a vote of 33 to 28. Appropriation funding for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Environment and Related Institutions has still not been accepted.
