Kennedy Center gets new signage bearing Trump’s name
Workers begin adjusting the name of the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" on Friday.
(CNN) — New signage was installed Friday at Washington, DC’s performing arts center on Friday to include President Donald Trump’s name.
It comes after the institution’s board of trustees voted a day earlier to rename the facility to honor the president.
The building, known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has been renamed by the trustees to the Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The center’s social media accounts were also updated on Friday to reflect the new name.
However, the legality of the move remains in question. It is unclear if the board has the authority to rename the arts institution, which Congress designated as a memorial to Kennedy in 1964 following his assassination the year before.
The renaming drew criticism from the Kennedy family, with Maria Shriver, Kennedy’s niece, calling the effort to rename the memorial after Trump “beyond comprehension.”
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday touted what he described as “record-setting numbers” in donors and previewed plans to get Congress to invest more money in the center.
“We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially and every other way. And now it’s very solid, very strong,” he said.
After returning to office, Trump dramatically reshaped the performing arts center, gutting the board of trustees and ousting its chairman. And soon after, the president was elected chair of the center following his appointment of several new members to the board.
The new signage marks the second time this month that a federal building has been renamed after Trump.
The president’s name was installed on the building and signage around the US Institute of Peace, an independent agency, on December 3. USIP was also gutted earlier this year as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
