The Kennedy Center starts work to add Trump’s name onto the building
Dec 19, 2025, 7:42 AM | Updated: 1:04 pm
Tarps are installed in front of the sign on the Kennedy Center on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center started the work of adding Donald Trump’s name to the building on Friday, a day after the president’s handpicked board voted to do so.
Several blue tarps were hung in front of the institution early Friday to block views of the work underway. A large letter D was seen on the exterior before the final tarps went up, along with workers on scaffolding at the center, which was named for John F. Kennedy, a Democratic president.
The board voted to rename The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Trump, a Republican, is chairman of the board.
Critics of the vote, including Democratic members of Congress who are ex-officio board members, as well as some historians, insist that only Congress can change the name.
The Kennedy Center is the latest building in Washington to have Trump’s name carved into it. He recently had his name added to the building for the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment Friday.
