The board of the Kennedy Center, who were all appointed by President Trump earlier this year, voted December 18 to rename the Washington, D.C., institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. The news was announced by the White House on social media, and confirmed by a statement from a Kennedy Center representative.

“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,” said Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public relations, in a statement. “The unanimous vote recognizes that the current chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction. The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come.”

The change is not yet reflected on the Kennedy Center website, though the Wikipedia entry has been changed. Contrary to the White House and Daravi's assertion that the vote was "unanimous," House Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, wrote on social media that "this was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship." Beatty is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board.

Ever since Trump took over the Kennedy Center earlier this year, deposing its former leadership and installing himself and his loyalists at the head of it, the President has also been vocal about his desire to have the institution itself renamed after him. He also hosted the recent Kennedy Center Honors, the first sitting U.S. President to do so. 

In response to the change in leadership, a number of high profile artists and shows (including the Hamilton tour) have cancelled their engagements at the Center, and ticket sales have fallen as a result. 

Though Trump has appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr, to his cabinet, the news of the name change was met with shock from other members of the Kennedy family. Maria Shriver, a niece of President John F. Kennedy, posted on Facebook: "The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists.It is beyond compression that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not."

John F. Kennedy's grandson Jack Schlossberg posted on Instagram that the "law prohibits renaming Kennedy Center," and that the "board meeting and vote was not unanimous." 

The Kennedy Center was originally created through the National Cultural Center Act of 1958, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1964, the center was renamed in honor of President John F. Kennedy through a law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson after Kennedy's assassination. 

Because the Kennedy Center was originally created by an act of Congress that was signed into federal law, officially renaming it requires Congressional approval. A bill to rename the Center the Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts was introduced in the House in July, though it has not advanced through Congress.

In a joint statement, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), House Member Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), and House Member Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03)—all ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees—called the renaming illegal:

“Beyond using the Kennedy Center to reward his friends and political allies, President Trump is now attempting to affix his name to yet another public institution without legal authority. Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action. At today’s meeting, a sitting Member of Congress was muted, and participants were prevented from speaking—actions that reflect a troubling lack of transparency and respect for the rule of law. This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump Administration, and as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, we will be unwavering in our commitment to holding this Administration accountable.”