“The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” center spokeswoman Roma Daravi said in a statement.
The president, who was
elected chair by a newly constituted board in February, has frequently joked about calling the performing arts center the “Trump Kennedy Center,” and it appears his handpicked board has approved his wishes.
At an Oval Office event Thursday afternoon, Trump said he was honored and surprised by the decision.
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Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member of the board, said the vote was “not unanimous.”
“I was on that call and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions, and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted. Each time I tried to speak, I was muted,” she said in a video posted to X.
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“The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law,” Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and the great-nephew of the late president, said on X. “It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.
Congress renamed the arts center after former President John F. Kennedy in legislation passed after his 1963 assassination, and
federal law requires that the board “assure that 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.”
Experts told CNN that while the board’s decision Thursday was likely unlawful, it’s unclear whether someone looking to challenge the move would have the legal right – known as “standing” – to even pursue such a case.
“There is absolutely no way they can do this legally,” said David Super, a professor at Georgetown Law who specializes in legislation. But, he added,
“the administration is not concerning itself with laws unless it has a realistic prospect of getting sued.”