Kennedy Family Blasts Trump for Slapping His Name on JFK Center, Calls Move Illegal and Disgraceful
Kennedy Center; Kerry Kennedy - People
More members of the Kennedy family are speaking out after Donald Trump added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this week, a move that has sparked legal questions and emotional backlash.
Following a vote by a Trump-aligned board, workers on Dec. 19 affixed new lettering to the exterior of the historic venue, adding “The Donald Trump and” above the building’s original name honoring John F. Kennedy. The addition immediately drew criticism from members of the Kennedy family, who argue the change is both inappropriate and unlawful.
Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and JFK’s niece, reacted sharply on X after images of the updated signage circulated online. She said she plans to remove Trump’s name herself once his term ends, writing that she would “grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building,” joking that it would be a union job.
Her cousin, Maria Shriver, also condemned the move, arguing that attaching Trump’s name to an existing memorial dishonors its purpose. “Adding your name to a memorial already named in honor of a great man doesn’t make you a great man,” Shriver wrote. “Quite the contrary.”
Shriver went further, questioning Trump’s motives and the legality of the action. She noted that Congress designated the Kennedy Center as a living memorial in 1964 and asserted that only Congress has the authority to change its name. “This will always be the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” she wrote, adding that no other president would attempt such a move.
Legal concerns were echoed earlier this year by JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg, who opposed a Republican-backed proposal to rename the venue entirely after Trump. Schlossberg pointed to federal law barring additional memorials or plaques at the center, arguing that the statute plainly prohibits such changes.
The controversy has also reached Capitol Hill. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, disputed claims by the White House that the renaming vote was unanimous. Beatty said she and others were muted during the call and denied the opportunity to object.
“For the record, this was not unanimous,” Beatty wrote on X, calling the process “censorship” and arguing that Congress—not a handpicked board—has final authority over the center’s name. She said the move was another attempt to bypass the law and public accountability.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended the board’s action, but opposition continues to grow among Kennedy family members and Democratic lawmakers. As the backlash intensifies, critics say the dispute underscores deeper questions about presidential power, historical legacy, and respect for national memorials.
