A proposed House Republican bill aims to strip former president John F. Kennedy’s name from the Kennedy Center, turning it into the “Trump Center for the Performing Arts.”
Rep. Bob Onder (R-Mo.) introduced the bill Wednesday.
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“You would be hard pressed to find a more significant cultural icon in the past 40 years than President Trump,” Rep. Onder said in a statement Wednesday. “President Trump’s love and mastery of entertainment has stood the test of time and allowed him to capture Americans’ attention for decades.”
The theater name change is part of a bill introduced by Onder the Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act. Onder noted in his bill proposal that President Trump has intended to “to preserve the integrity the fine arts by ending woke programming and rebalancing the Kennedy Center’s $234 million budget” since being elected chairman.
President Trump was appointed chair of the Kennedy Center in February as the center’s longtime president, Deborah F. Rutter, was swiftly fired from her position. Trump loyalist Richard Grenell was then appointed the center’s interim president.
In March and April single ticket sales for Kennedy Center events dropped by 50% compared to the same period in 2024, following Trump’s appointment as chairman. subscriptions to the National Symphony Orchestra dropped 28% and Washington National Opera subscriptions by 25%. Subsequently, theatrical revenues were down by an astonishing 86%, and dance revenues by 57%, according to the New York Times.
Rep. Onder referenced Trump’s entertainment credits in his proposal, including “The Apprentice,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and “Saturday Night Live!”
“I cannot think of a more ubiquitous symbol of American exceptionalism in the arts, entertainment, and popular culture at large than President Trump,” Onder continued.
This proposal comes just one week after House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee voted to approve the 2026 Interior-Environment spending bill that would rename an opera house inside the Kennedy Center the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”
The opera house amendment was condemned by Trump critics, including Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s 32-year-old grandson.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was named in the late president’s honor in 1964 following his assassination. The performing arts center has since been a cultural hub in Washington D.C. for theater, dance, classical music, jazz and pop and has become the official residence of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.
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