Republicans have proposed a bill to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after President Donald Trump.
Republican Representative Bob Onder of Missouri introduced the bill on Wednesday, which would rename the iconic Washington, D.C. institution to the “Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts.” The center is currently named for former President John F. Kennedy, who served in the White House from 1961 to 1963, when he was assassinated.
The bill is called the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act,” in a spin on Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Onder described Trump as “a patron of the arts and a staple of the pop-culture landscape” in a statement announcing the bill.
“You would be hard pressed to find a more significant cultural icon in the past 40 years than President Trump,” Onder said. “President Trump’s love and mastery of entertainment has stood the test of time and allowed him to capture Americans’ attention for decades.”
The Kennedy Center is made up of several stages, including the Concert Hall, the Opera House and the Eisenhower Theater. The Concert Hall and Opera House both seat more than 2,000 people.
The Independent has contacted the Kennedy Center for comment.
This bill comes after Republican Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho introduced an amendment to a funding bill that would rename the Kennedy Center’s Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump. The measure, voted on by the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, passed 33-25.
“This is an excellent way to recognize [Melania Trump’s] support and commitment to promoting the arts, and I would encourage members to vote for this Republican en bloc amendment,” Simpson said last week.
The Opera House is known for hosting the annual Kennedy Center Honors. The event is typically attended by high-profile celebrities and politicians, including the president.
The First Lady also serves as the honorary chair of the Kennedy Center. In February, Trump fired members of the Kennedy Center’s board who were hired by President Joe Biden and replaced them with his picks. The board then elected him as the new chair.
“We took over the Kennedy Center,” Trump said at the time. “We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things.”
“I’m going to be chairman of it, and we’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke,” he added.
Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg, a vocal critic of Trump, denounced the Opera House amendment last week.
“Trump is obsessed with being bigger than JFK, with minimizing the many heroes of our past, as if that elevates him,” Schlossberg said. “It doesn’t.”
The Trumps attended a performance of the musical Les Misérables alongside Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance at the Kennedy Center last month. They were met with a mix of boos and cheers from the audience as they sat down.
Multiple cabinet members, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also attended.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
