Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Kennedy Heart

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Related Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s main performing arts heart because the Trump Kennedy Heart, the White Home mentioned, in a transfer that made Democrats fume, saying the board had overstepped its authorized authority.

Congress named the middle after President John F. Kennedy in 1964, after his assassination. Donald A. Ritchie, who served as Senate historian from 2009-2015, mentioned that as a result of Congress had first named the middle it might be as much as Congress to “amend the regulation.”

Ritchie mentioned that whereas Trump and others can “informally” discuss with the middle by a unique title, they couldn’t do it in a method “that might (legally) stick.”

However the board didn’t await that debate to play out, instantly altering the branding on its web site to replicate the brand new title.

Home Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries instructed reporters that legislative motion was wanted, “and we’re going to make that clear.” The New York Democrat is an ex officio member of the board due to his place in Congress.

Trump has teased the title change for a while

“The Kennedy Heart Board of Trustees voted unanimously immediately to call the establishment The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Heart for the Performing Arts,” mentioned Roma Daravi, the establishment’s vice chairman for public relations.

She mentioned the vote acknowledged that Trump saved the middle from “monetary smash and bodily destruction,” a pair of claims denied by the venue’s ousted management.

“The brand new Trump Kennedy Heart displays the unequivocal bipartisan assist for America’s cultural heart for generations to come back,” Daravi mentioned.

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt introduced the vote on social media, attributing it to the “unbelievable work” Trump has achieved on the middle since he returned to workplace in January.

Trump, a Republican who’s chairman of the board, mentioned on the White Home that he was “stunned” and “honored” by the vote.

“The board is a really distinguished board, most distinguished individuals within the nation, and I used to be stunned by it and I used to be honored by it,” he mentioned.

Trump had already been referring to the middle because the “Trump Kennedy Heart.” Requested Dec. 7 as he walked the pink carpet for the Kennedy Heart Honors program whether or not he would rename the venue after himself, Trump mentioned such a choice can be as much as the board.

Earlier this month, he talked a few “huge occasion” taking place on the “Trump Kennedy Heart” earlier than saying, “excuse me, on the Kennedy Heart,” as his viewers laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer draw for 2026, wherein he participated.

The title change isn’t sitting effectively with some Kennedy relations.

Maria Shriver, a niece of John F. Kennedy, mentioned it’s “past comprehension” that Trump has sought so as to add his title to the memorial to her uncle and “past wild” that he would assume doing so is appropriate. “It isn’t,” she mentioned in a social media submit.

Shriver mentioned Kennedy was a president who introduced the humanities into the White Home and she or he speculated that Trump may subsequent search to rename John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in New York or any of the opposite memorials to presidents in Washington.

Earlier this yr, Trump renovated the Kennedy-era Rose Backyard on the White Home to exchange the garden with paving stones.

In his personal submit on the social platform X, Shriver’s brother, Tim Shriver, referred to as the renaming an “insult to a terrific president.”

One other Kennedy member of the family, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s cousins with the Shrivers, serves in Trump’s Cupboard as secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Companies.

Trump is extra centered on the Kennedy Heart

Trump confirmed scant curiosity within the Kennedy Heart throughout his first time period as president, however since returning to workplace in January he has changed board members appointed by Democratic presidents with a few of his most ardent supporters, who then elected him as board chairman.

He has criticized the middle’s previous programming and present bodily look and has vowed to overtake each.

Trump secured greater than $250 million from the Republican-controlled Congress for renovations of the constructing, together with the promise of recent paint, new seats within the theaters and different upgrades.

He attended opening night time of the musical “Les Misérables,” and final week he served as host of the Kennedy Heart Honors program after not attending the present throughout his first time period as president. The awards program is scheduled to be broadcast by CBS and Paramount+ on Dec. 23.

Gross sales of subscription packages are mentioned to have declined since Trump’s takeover of the middle, and a number of other touring productions, together with “Hamilton,” have canceled deliberate runs there. Rows of empty seats have been seen within the Live performance Corridor throughout performances by the Nationwide Symphony Orchestra.

Some performers, together with actor Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens, have scrapped scheduled appearances, and Kennedy Heart consultants together with musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming have resigned.

AP Nationwide Author Hillel Italie in New York and Related Press author Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.