WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES, DEC 18 (AFP/APP/DNA): US President Donald Trump sealed his takeover of Washington’s famed Kennedy Center on Thursday after the White House said the institution’s board voted to rename it the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
Trump hand-picked new board members of the US national cultural center and installed himself as chairman earlier this year, as part of a crackdown on institutions he branded too woke.
But family members of slain US president John F. Kennedy, after whom the arts venue is named, slammed the decision as “beyond wild” and said it could not be renamed without the approval of Congress.
Adding his own name to the storied venue is the latest in a series of grandiose Trump schemes including the demolition of the White House East Wing to build a $400-million ballroom, and planning a large triumphal arch.
“I was surprised by it, I was honored by it,” Trump told reporters after the announcement of the board decision — despite having repeatedly talked about a name change for the center in the past.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the “highly respected” board of the Kennedy center had “voted unanimously” to take the extraordinary step of renaming it after a living president.
Leavitt said it was “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future!” she added.
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The imposing white-marble arts center, which sits on the banks of the Potomac River, opened in 1971.
The website of the Kennedy Center later had a new “Trump-Kennedy Center” logo.
But the move met fierce condemnation from the Kennedy family, America’s most storied political clan.
“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up!” JFK’s niece Maria Shriver said on X. She added that it was “beyond wild” of Trump to think it was acceptable to add his name before her uncle’s.
Former congressman Joe Kennedy III said the center was a “living memorial” to his great-uncle and “can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”
The full name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is set out in federal statute. Congress created the center in 1958 and later renamed it by law to honor Kennedy after his assassination.
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