The Kennedy Center may get another name attached to it soon: First Lady Melania Trump. The House Appropriations Committee passed an amendment July 22 to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House into the First Lady Melania Trump Opera House, according to the Washington Post. The Opera House is one of four venues operated by the Kennedy Center.

Republican House Representative Mike Simpson, of Idaho, said in a public statement that the renaming "is an excellent way to recognize [Melania Trump's] support and commitment to promoting the arts."

The amendment is part of a proposed Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2026, which details where $37.971 billion will be distributed. It stipulates that Melania Trump's name must be added to the Kennedy Center Opera House for the institution to receive government funds. Another item that is also in the funding bill are cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts ($135 million, down $72 million). There is no schedule for when the bill will come to the House floor for a vote.

It should be noted that though the appropriations bill does include a $7.7 million cut to the Kennedy Center's 2026 allocation, the Big Beautiful Bill Act that was passed by Congress (and signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4), earmarks $256,657,000 to the Kennedy Center until September 30, 2029 for building repairs and restoration. The Kennedy Center typically receives around $40 million annually from Congress for building maintenance and operations; the rest of its annual budget is made up through private donations and ticket sales.

If the appropriations bill is passed by Congress and signed into law, it would be a big step forward in Trump's remaking of the Kennedy Center in his own image. Historically, the Kennedy Center has had non-political, bipartisan support, with a board made up of both Democrats and Republicans. But in February, Trump fired the Kennedy Center's president, board chair, and Democrat board members, and installed himself as the chairman of the board. Richard Grenell was named the Kennedy Center President and the board was filled with other prominent Republicans. Melania Trump was named an honorary board chair.

House Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine, responded to the renaming amendment with: “The Republicans have now given the president six times the normal amount of money to run the Kennedy Center, carte blanche over who will be on the board, and how different parts of the Kennedy Center—perhaps the whole Kennedy Center itself—will be named, and this amendment confirms that."

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors in 1961, and was originally called the National Cultural Center; President Dwight D. Eisenhower led the efforts to build an arts complex in Washington, D.C. The center was renamed after President Kennedy in 1963, after his assassination; Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson approved a bill for the renaming, because Kennedy had led the initial fundraising efforts for the center. 

If Melania Trump gets her name on the opera house, it will be the second time one of the four venues of the Kennedy Center is named after an individual and the first named attached to the venue that wasn't integral to its founding. The Kennedy Center operates four spaces: the 2,465-seat Concert Hall; the 2,347-seat Opera House; the 1,161-seat Eisenhower Theatre; and the 490-seat Terrace Theater. 

The Opera House normally hosts the Kennedy Center honors, as well as large-scale musicals and operas. The national tour of Les Misérables recently played at the Opera House; President Trump and the First Lady were met with cheers and boos when they attended a performance.

Trump previously criticized the prior programming at the Kennedy Center, saying it was "woke" and "terrible" and that the "programming was out of control with rampant political propaganda, DEI, and inappropriate shows.” He has never provided further details on the allegedly offensive programming, nor specifics about which parts of their content he found troubling. Much of his rhetoric has revolved around drag performance, though two musicals that the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center has programmed—Mrs. Doubtfire and Chicago—include drag performances as major components.

Since Trump's takeover, a number of previously programmed shows have been cancelled—either by the center itself or by artists who no longer wanted to perform there. This included the Hamilton producers cancelling the national tour stop at the Kennedy Center, and the producers of Eureka Day (which recently won a 2025 Tony Award) cancelling a planned engagement of the play. The Center cancelled a planned tour of a children's musical called Finn, which had themes that could be interpreted as queer; the Kennedy Center said that the decision was a financial one, while the creators of the show said they had been informed after Trump’s takeover.

In addition to taking control of the Kennedy Center, Trump has also proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts. While the agency still exists and is still being considered for federal funding, Trump's announcement has led to the NEA cancelling grants to theatres nationwide.