Renaming the Kennedy Center for Donald and Melania Trump would violate the law that created it [View all]

Source: NBC News

July 28, 2025, 6:49 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — House Republican proposals to name the Kennedy Center after President Donald Trump and its opera house after first lady Melania Trump would violate the law by which the Kennedy Center was created, four sources familiar with the issue told NBC News. Republicans last week passed an amendment through committee that would rename the opera house after Melania Trump, saying it was a way to recognize the first lady’s support and commitment to the arts.

The measure, sponsored by GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, is now part of key legislation funding the Interior Department, but would still need to pass through the full House and the Senate to become law. The next day, Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., introduced the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act” to rename the whole center “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.” The House has not yet taken any action on it.

But three former board members for the Kennedy Center told NBC News that the law creating the center prohibited any of the facilities from being named, other than the Eisenhower Theater, after the president whose administration first authorized its construction in 1958. The project stalled and was revived under President John F. Kennedy, whose family led an effort to get the center built and named in his honor following his assassination. Two months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation making it a living memorial to Kennedy.

According to U.S. code, “After December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/renaming-kennedy-center-donald-melania-trump-violate-law-created-rcna221505