Democrats, including those in the Kennedy family, erupted in rage Thursday after news broke that the Kennedy Center is being renamed to include current President Donald Trump.
The board of trustees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (originally named after JFK) voted Thursday to rename the facility the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a statement, board spokesperson Roma Daravi said the decision was made to honor Trump’s work at the center since assuming office.
“The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman [Trump] saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction. The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come,” she said.
Republicans, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, celebrated the decision:
I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) December 18, 2025
Democrats, including those in the Kennedy family, instead raged.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” JFK’s niece Maria Shriver angrily tweeted. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job. It’s downright weird. It’s obsessive in a weird way. Just when you think somone [SIC] can’t stoop any lower, down they go…,” she added.
Some things leave you speechless, and enraged, and in a state of disbelief. At times such as that, it’s better to be quiet. For how long, I can’t say. TDS in full display. https://t.co/LrzPzj5qOs
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) December 18, 2025
The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie… pic.twitter.com/wcGjTp2uqa
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) December 18, 2025
In a tweet of his own, JFK’s grandnephew, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, alleged that the center can’t legally be renamed.
“The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law,” he wrote. “It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed Kennedy in a statement to reporters, saying, “The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action.”
Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, meanwhile, took a personal shot at Trump.
“President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer,” she wrote in a statement shared to X. “President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s.”
Keep in mind, this is the same despicable family that uniformly turned on and publicly mocked their own family member — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) — after he decided to endorse President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year.
Here’s JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, posting a video mocking RFK Jr’s spasmodic dysphonia. Classy.
The Kennedys were a great American family who faced a choice – they could continue their legacy as statesmen, or they could devolve into useless trust fund babies good for… https://t.co/ntHyAwalFV pic.twitter.com/haW0QKVFKj
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 29, 2025
Jack Schlossberg, the son of Caroline Kennedy and a candidate for a New York congressional seat, alleged in a tweet that the vote was illegitimate because the “microphones were muted” and the vote wasn’t unanimous.
Other, less high-profile Democrats, including many so-called “journalists,” also raged and cried foul.
He’ll put his name on anything but the economy. https://t.co/k0w9XY3tkC
— Senator Chris Coons (@ChrisCoons) December 18, 2025
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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