Workers added President Donald Trump’s name to The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Friday as some lawmakers and Kennedy family members push back on a decision to change the venue’s name. The Kennedy Center’s board voted to add Trump’s name to the arts center, a spokeswoman for the D.C . cultural institution and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. Blue tarps were seen covering an exterior wall on Friday, blocking views of crews installing new letters above the sign reading “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Photos and video showed Donald Trump’s name on the wall. Workers adjust the name of the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” on Dec. 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted in what they say was a unanimous decision to rename the facility “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts”. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images) A name change would require an act of Congress, and it’s unclear whether the Senate would provide 60 votes to make the change. Still, changes happened at whiplash speed. The logo on the website was updated on Thursday to read, “The Trump Kennedy Center.” Trump said he was honored by the board’s vote. “Well, I was honored,” Trump said. “The board is a very distinguished board. Most distinguished people in the country.” Leavitt said the sought name change recognizes Trump’s work to improve the institution. Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravi confirmed the decision and also described it as unanimous. However, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the board, disputed that the vote was unanimous. “For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move,” the congresswoman wrote in a post on X. Members of former President John F. Kennedy’s family also spoke against the change. Maria Shriver, his niece, said the move was “downright weird” in a statement on X. “My grandparents would be mortified, and rightfully so,” said Jack Schlossberg, the late president’s grandson who is currently running for a New York congressional seat. “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” Former Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, a grandnephew of the former president, said in a statement to NBC News. Efforts to rename the Kennedy Center could run into legal hurdles, experts told NBC News in July, after Republican lawmakers introduced several proposals in Congress to rename the center in honor of the president or the first lady. Congress named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The original laws that guided the creation of the Kennedy Center during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations specifically prohibited the renaming of the building. It would take an act of Congress to change that now. As Trump’s second term began, he quickly started making changes at The Kennedy Center. Within a month, he ousted the institution’s leadership, filled the board of trustees with his supporters and announced he had been elected the board’s chair. ...read more read less