Overview
- Workers began installing new signage on Friday, with tarps and scaffolding partly obscuring large letters being added to the façade.
- The board, led by President Trump, announced a unanimous vote to rename the institution “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
- Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio trustee, says she was muted during the meeting and that the vote was not unanimous, contradicting official statements.
- Legal scholars point to the center’s founding statutes to argue that only Congress can lawfully change its name, while noting uncertainty over who has standing to sue.
- Members of the Kennedy family and Democratic leaders denounced the change, as Trump defended the decision by claiming his administration has “saved the building” through restoration and fundraising.