Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, White House says

According to a statement from the White House, the Kennedy Center board of directors voted to change the name of the performing arts center to Trump-Kennedy Center.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on social media that the board’s unanimous vote was due to “the incredible work President Trump did to save the building last year.”

Leavitt also congratulated President John F. Kennedy and said, “This will be a truly great team well into the future! The building will undoubtedly reach new levels of success and magnificence.”

The move would be highly controversial, especially in Washington, D.C., where the center has been an iconic landmark since its construction and was named after Kennedy.

Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump fired all of the center’s board members and replaced them with allies; they also later voted to make Trump chairman of the board.

The president secured nearly $257 million in congressional funding to cover major renovations and other expenses at the venue.

The idea for a national performing arts center began in the 1950s, and when the 35th president Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, the venue was named in his honor.