The popular Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is set to be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday.
In a post on X, Leavitt highlighted the “incredible” work US President Donald Trump has done for the cultural center, formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
In her announcement, Leavitt added that the center’s board of trustees, appointed by Trump in February, “voted unanimously” to rename the famed site after the current president.
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“I was just informed that the highly respected Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, some of the most successful people from all over the world, just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the incredible work that President Trump has done over the last year to save the building,” Leavitt said.
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump and congratulations to President Kennedy as well, as this will be a truly great team for a long time to come! The building will no doubt reach new levels of success and greatness,” she added.
Trump has previously hinted that a name change is in the works.
In a post on Truth Social in October, the US president shared photos of the center and called it “TRUMP KENNEDY.”
“New TRUMP KENNEDY columns, oops, I mean KENNEDY CENTER, beautifully painted in a lush white enamel paint, replacing the fake looking gold paint that’s been there for years,” the US president wrote, highlighting the improvements made under his watch.
The US president named himself chairman of the center weeks after taking office for the second time.
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Fall in sales
However, Leavitt’s claims that Trump saved the center may be misleading if recent ticket sales figures are taken.
Last month, The New York Times reported that ticket sales in October this year were down 50% compared to the same period last year.
A similar report published by The Washington Post revealed an “overall decline” in ticket sales for the Kennedy Center’s three largest concert halls.
The most recent major event at the center was the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw held earlier in December with Trump, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino and several other celebrities in attendance.
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Reaction on social networks
Soon after Leavitt’s announcement, netizens began sharing their thoughts on the move, with Trump supporters attacking critics and vice versa.
“The left is going to throw a fit! I LOVE IT! 🤣🤣🤣 (sic),” one user wrote in response to Leavitt’s post.
“Grab some popcorn, stock up on tissues, and join the symphony of liberal heads exploding for 3… 2… 1… 💥,” was another response from a Trump supporter.
“‘Orange Cheeto-Kennedy Center’ or ‘Epstein’s Bff-Kennedy Center’ would be more appropriate,” another user wrote, slamming Trump and his followers.
Another critic, meanwhile, pointed out that even the infamous dictator Adolf Hitler renamed places after himself after the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933.
Others, meanwhile, poked fun at Leavitt for congratulating Kennedy and reminding the White House press secretary that the 35th US president had been assassinated decades earlier, in 1963.
