By Lily Campbell and Helen Jane Thompson / News Reporters
On Dec. 18, 2025, the board of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. voted to rename the iconic arts hub and landmark.
The center, a memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy and widely regarded as a cultural center of the United States, is now known as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. On Feb. 9, 2025, Trump dismissed 18 and appointed 14 new members of the Board of Trustees, who voted Trump as the chairman. Soon after, the center closed for renovations, the first step of the president’s plan to reimagine the performing arts center.
“This is the first time a president has really tried to remake the board of the Kennedy Center all at once… Probably because most presidents haven’t really cared that much,” said Upper School social science teacher Dr. Randall Pippenger.
Schneider and Sophia Rokas visit the Kennedy Center before its closing. Photo by Lily Hare
What most Americans know as the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts was originally commissioned as the National Cultural Center in 1958 under President Eisenhower. The creation of a commission, fundraising, construction and eventual completion of the center spanned three presidencies, with the goal of creating an “artistic mecca,” as stated by President Eisenhower. According to the center’s official website, the Arts Center was predicted to open to the public on Sept. 8, 1971.
However, after Kennedy’s assasination in 1963 — eight years before the planned center was to open — Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the bill P.L. 88-260, changing the center’s name from the National Cultural Center to the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. This established it as a “living memorial” to Kennedy, but after a unanimous vote from the board of trustees on Dec. 18, 2025, the center was renamed a second time.
The renaming of the center was a fairly polarizing decision, prompting questions regarding its legality. Many question the idea of renaming a designated memorial to a deceased president. According to PBS, former Republican Congresswoman and former Kennedy Center board member Barbara Comstock challenged the legality of removing board members who would have voted against the name change. Comstock said that the board is becoming more partisan, since old board members appointed by Biden were replaced by loyalists to President Trump’s administration.
Others disagree. “It’s not so much an issue of legality, of whether or not it’s illegal — the issue is that it’s non-traditional,” Dr. Pippenger said. “Traditionally, it was very autonomous, and the board more or less self-operated — the president did have the right to appoint the board members, and did, but it wasn’t really a politicized process.”
President Trump dismissed 18 board members of the original 34 and appointed 14 new members. Among those dismissed was former chairman billionaire philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. New board members include Second Lady Usha Vance and Fox host Laura Ingraham.
In the wake of the name change, multiple artists are canceling their performances. The concerns about the center’s ability to bring in top performers is rooted in the worry that the center will become politicized. The addition of President Trump’s name to the center may make performances at the center inherently political, and many artists do not want their presence or lack thereof to make a political statement for them.
“It’s just this total lightning rod, politically speaking, regardless of whatever your political beliefs are,” said Brion Kennedy, Harpeth Hall’s Director of the Performing Arts.
The lack of performers has led the Trump Kennedy Center to propose a series of renovations, which are expected to cost around $200 million. Starting this summer, the Center will close its doors for what is estimated to be two years.
According to NPR, the future of the Trump Kennedy Center remains uncertain. The renovations and a new Board of Trustees are likely to change the Arts Center that the nation has come to know. It remains to be seen whether these changes will have a positive or negative impact on the iconic arts center.
