An Editorial by Dawoud Kringle
Last April, I wrote an editorial about Donald Trump coopting and taking control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (EDITORIAL: Trump and the Kennedy Center | DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY). The Kennedy Center was meant to be a cultural landmark honoring art, not Trump’s ego. There was no reason for him to have done this except to build or confiscate more monuments to his worthless legacy.
Now, he has taken it a step further. He slapped his name on it.
Earlier this month, White House press secretary / MAGA cheerleader Karoline Leavitt announced the news on social media, saying the Center board voted unanimously for the change: “Because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.” Shortly after the announcement, Ohio Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, refuted the claim that the vote was unanimous. Other Democrats in Congress who are ex officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, issued a statement stating that the President is renaming the institution “without legal authority. Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action.”
Trump has shown a special interest in the Center in his second term, touring it and promising to weed out programming he disapproves of. His “Big Beautiful Bill” included $257 million for the building’s repairs and maintenance.
Since Trump began to destroy the legacy of the Center, musicians have fought back. Many have boycotted the venue. And the MAGA nation has responded.
Guitar virtuoso Yasmin Williams‘ performance at the Kennedy Center on September 18, 2025, was disrupted by a group of Trump supporters. Richard Grendel, the Trump-appointed executive director of the Kennedy Center, authorized executive vice president Rick Loughney to give 50 seats (and free alcoholic drink tickets) to members of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative group. Several emails between Grenell and the group encouraged them to “make sure the audience is filled with patriots.” They heckled, booed, and harassed Williams throughout her performance. At one point, a woman in the crowd demanded that Williams mention Charlie Kirk. The woman’s behavior became so disruptive that Security escorted her out of the building.
The Kennedy Center Workers Union is demanding an investigation.
Recently, Chuck Redd, who has led the Kennedy Center holiday “Jazz Jams” since 2006, hosted annual concerts that have been a staple of the venue’s holiday programming for nearly two decades. Redd announced that he canceled the performance after learning of the name change. Grenell accused Redd of “political intolerance.” In a letter shared with The Associated Press, Grenell said the cancellation was explicitly tied to the recent renaming of the facility, which Grenell described as honoring Trump’s efforts to preserve the arts institution. He said the Trump-loyal board of the Center would seek $1 million in damages.
Upon closer examination, it is evident that Trump has no legal or moral right to add his name to the Center. After President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Congress passed legislation the following year establishing the Center as a living memorial to him. The law restricts the board of trustees from dedicating the building to anyone else or placing another individual’s name on its exterior. White House spokespeople have said that the decision to add Trump’s name was approved by a board consisting entirely of members appointed by the president (which explains why the change happened). Legal scholars and historians (including former House historian Ray Smock) have pointed out that congressional approval would be required to rename the Center and questioned the legality of the change. John F. Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, has said she intends to remove Trump’s name from the Kennedy family’s estate once he leaves office.
In an act of poetic justice, a writer and comedian threw a monkey wrench in Trump’s malignancy.
When the Trump-appointed board was defiling the Kennedy Center by bolting Trump’s name onto the building, they overlooked something. Toby Morton, a veteran comedy writer with credits on South Park and Mad TV, grabbed every variation on the new web domain (TrumpKennedyCenter.org, TrumpKennedyCenter.com, etc.).
Morton had previously acquired domain names related to MAGA reps, such as Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, for satirical web-based purposes. Upon hearing what Trump was up to, he knew exactly when to spring into action. While Trump purged the Kennedy Center board and replaced it with loyalists, Morton quietly scooped up the domain names, anticipating exactly what would happen. Unfortunately, he could not acquire the venue’s original domain, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Unfortunately, there are still musicians who willingly perform at the Kennedy Center under Trump. Among them are jazz septet The Cookers (playing on New Year’s Eve, 12/31/25), Monty Python’s Spamalot, pianist Daniil Trifonov with Gianandrea Noseda conducting the National Symphony Orchestra, and cellist David Hardy and pianist Lambert Orkis.
Read The Cooker’s legendary jazz saxophonist and ex MFM member, Billy Harper’s, Facebook comments in the image below.
Despite the self-aggrandizing bullying and bull-in-a-china-shop policies Trump does without end, the ultimate authority to change the name of the Kennedy Center lies only with Congress. The executive branch of the government has no authority to change it. Yet Trump added his worthless name to the venue. His flagrant disregard for governmental, legal, and constitutional procedure is his usual modus operandi. He’s a thief, a thug, a tyrant, a criminal, a bully, and ultimately a coward. Worse, he’s an idolator: his false god is his own ego.
I challenge anyone who reads this to name one legitimate and authentic contribution to the arts that Trump ever made.
Take all the time you need.
