President Donald Trump's advisers stopped him from ripping John F. Kennedy's name off the Kennedy Center altogether, leaving the cultural hub simply called the Trump Center, his biographer said.
“Why does this have to be Kennedy?" the president apparently argued. "That was such a long time ago.”
Trump, 79, has substantially remade the Washington, D.C. performing arts institution in his image, taking control of its board, renaming it "The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" without congressional approval, and announcing plans to close it for extensive renovations.
But writer Michael Wolff, who spent months inside the first Trump White House, told the Daily Beast that Trump's original proposal was far more ambitious. Wolff stated, "His first idea was to call this the Trump Center."
"I was almost assassinated," he said, according to Wolff. "Therefore, it should be me." Trump experienced two assassination attempts in 2024.
Trump's inner circle was able to persuade him away from the plan. Wolff said, "You can't say, 'This is a terrible idea. This is a megalomaniacal idea. This is not good politics.' You just cannot say any of that stuff to Trump. So instead, they said, 'Well, why don't we call it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center?'"
"It's a perfect Trump setup. He goes for the absurd, and he settles for the outlandish."
On December 18, Trump's handpicked board voted to rename the center. Trump claimed he was "surprised" by the board's vote, though he controlled its composition. While congressional action is required for formal changes, the center added Trump's name to its signage and updated its website to read "The Trump Kennedy Center."
The center has seen plunging ticket sales and cancelled performances since Trump's takeover. Last weekend, the president announced it would close for two years, claiming it was for renovations.
