U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi (not pictured) speak during a signing ceremony with President of Rwanda Paul Kagame at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 4, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump has completely remade the Kennedy Center in his image — and now he wants to name it after himself.
According to The New Republic, Trump let this plan slip "during a speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace for the signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Coincidentally, the Institute of Peace is the latest building that the president has stamped his name on, even in the midst of a legal battle over who owns the building."
“You have a big event on Friday at the Trump-Kennedy Center — oh, excuse me. The Kennedy Center,” said the president, breaking out in a smile. “Pardon me, such a terrible mistake.”
This comes after a year of turmoil for the Kennedy Center, a cultural icon that has seen itself taken over by the president's loyalists.
Ever since Trump stacked the board that oversees the landmark with his allies, ticket sales have crashed, a number of artists and groups have pulled out of performing there, and even the Washington National Opera is considering abandoning it.
This week, Ric Grenell, Trump's former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence who now serves as president of the Kennedy Center, blew up at reporters who had revealed revenue has plunged 50 percent under his leadership, who got that information from former Kennedy Center dance director Jane Raleigh.
"The bloggers quoted a failed dance programmer who wasn’t able to pay for the ideas she came up with at the KC - and who traveled the world watching other dance programs - expecting her salary and travel expenses to still be paid by someone," Grenell wrote on X. "We fired her for being unable to lead with fiscal responsibility. What these far left radical reporters never grasp is how responsible leaders must pay the bills. Is it too much to expect reporters to understand basic budgeting and finance? "