OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
2:40 PM – Tuesday, December 23, 2025
After the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted to add President Donald Trump’s name to the institution last week, rebranding it as the Trump-Kennedy Center, a Democrat congresswoman in Ohio filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump and the board, among others.
The Trump-Kennedy Center, formally listed as “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” had new signage installed on the building’s facade shortly after the vote last week.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio member of the board, filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump and the board on Monday.
The suit argues that the name change is unlawful since the center was “designated by federal statute” as a memorial to John F. Kennedy, and “only Congress can authorize a rename” or addition of another name.
Her complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to declare the renaming unlawful and prevent any future attempts to rename the building outside of Congress’s purview.
“Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. President Trump and his cronies must not be allowed to trample federal law and bypass Congress to feed his ego,” Beatty said in a statement on Tuesday “This entire process has been a complete disgrace to this cherished institution and the people it serves. These unlawful actions must be blocked before any further damage is done.”
The former moniker, “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” named after President Kennedy shortly after his assassination in 1963, was intended to serve as his “living memorial” in the nation’s capital. It was constructed under President Lyndon B. Johnson and funded with a mix of federal funds from Congress and private donations.
“The President and his sycophants have no lawful authority to rename the Kennedy Center,” said Nathaniel Zelinsky, Senior Counsel at Washington Litigation Group and retired Ambassador Norman Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action. “Congress named the Kennedy Center as a national memorial to President Kennedy, and only Congress can change that. We are proud to represent Congresswoman Beatty as she defends the integrity of this institution and the separation of powers.”
The center was reported to be in severe structural disrepair, to the point that engineers recommended tearing it down and rebuilding, according to the Daily Mail. Richard Grenell, the center’s president, credited Trump with restoring the facility after he personally toured and inspected damages and subsequently secured $250 million from Congress for its renovation as part of his “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
After Trump’s contributions to the center, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X that the board voted unanimously voted to add Trump’s name to the façade of the building.
Within 24 hours, the sitting president’s name could be seen above Kennedy’s to read, “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Its X account was also changed to include Trump’s name.
Trump has jokingly called the building the “Trump Kennedy Center,” but upon hearing news of the board’s decision, he said he was “surprised” and “honored by it.”
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