The Donald Trump administration has officially changed the signage at the Kennedy Center.
CNN reports that on Friday evening, the building previously known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had a forklift brought in to change the typeface displayed outside the building. The display now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The idea now is that after Donald Trump “saved” the arts center through donor-led funding, he should receive 50% naming credit. Trump explained, “We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially and every other way. And now it’s very solid, very strong.”
The name change was just the final step. In reality, Trump has been reshaping the center to closely mirror his interests and public persona. One of the first moves he made early on in his second term was to gut the board of trustees and remove its chairman, replacing them with loyalists, who quickly accepted his request to include his name on the center.
Trump has always been a branding-first thinker. It was apparent in his real estate career and in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico. It was never going to stop in his political career late in his life. But in this particular case, the issue remains the legality.
According to multiple reports, the board might not have the authority to rename the arts institution. In 1964, Congress specifically designated the center as a memorial to John F. Kennedy after he was assassinated in office, as a way to preserve his legacy and service to the United States. But that’s probably not going to stop Trump, considering he had no issue with the decimation of USAID.
That’s not to say this is the end of the story, or that the center will henceforth be called “The Donald Center.” Online, the move has not been well received. It’s not just that nobody believes Trump’s reasoning or that he’s deserving of such an honor, it’s that people think whatever his apparent overreach can do can also be undone when he leaves office.
Kerry Kennedy, for one, was unfazed and suggested that she would even be ready to deface the Donald Trump signage herself. Kennedy took to X and said she’s even applying for a carpenter card so that, ultimately, the job would be a union one (a nice touch). In the comments, people were cheering her on and hoping she actually goes through with it. Chances are, she will.
Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!! pic.twitter.com/ZLPhd7fU31
— Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) December 19, 2025
Kennedy saying she’ll ensure the job is a union one really illustrates the difference between what Trump’s legacy wants to be and what the Kennedys are. The Kennedys have values and principles — and where even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. deviates from them, they’re the first to acknowledge it. Trump’s values are about seeking accolades without the work.
First it was moaning about Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, and now this. Maybe Trump would have less of an issue if he tried to build his own legacy instead of trying to steal that of others.
Published: Dec 20, 2025 10:45 am