Kerry Kennedy announced on X that she plans to physically remove Donald Trump’s name from the newly retitled Kennedy Center, saying she will "grab a pickax" in three years and one month and joking about applying for a carpenter’s card. Maria Shriver also condemned the renaming, calling it evidence that adding a name does not confer greatness. The White House said the Center’s board "voted unanimously" to approve the change, but board member Rep. Joyce Beatty later disputed that account, saying she was muted during the call and that the vote was not on the agenda.
Kerry Kennedy Vows to Remove Trump’s Name From Renamed Kennedy Center as Family and Board Members Push Back
Karoline Leavitt only announced the name change on Thursday, and Trump already had workers adding his conveniently pre-prepared letters to the building on Friday. / Allison Robbert/Getty Images
Kerry Kennedy vowed a dramatic, do-it-yourself response after the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was retitled to include former President Donald Trump’s name. Posting on X, Kennedy — a lawyer and niece of the late president — wrote she plans to “grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building” in three years and one month, and joked she was applying for a carpenter’s card to make it a union job.
Family Rebukes the Renaming
About an hour after Kerry Kennedy’s post, another Kennedy family member, Maria Shriver, issued a sharp public rebuke. Shriver wrote on X:
"Adding your name to a memorial already named in honor of a great man doesn’t make you a great man. Quite the contrary."
Other relatives also criticized the change. Joe Kennedy III, a grandnephew of President Kennedy, noted the alteration appears to be aesthetic — new lettering on the building — rather than a legal or institutional rebrand.
Conflicting Accounts From the Board
The White House announced the renaming on Thursday after press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Center’s board had "voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center." The building’s exterior has since been shown with the extended title, styled as "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
But not all board members agreed with that characterization. Representative Joyce Beatty, who serves on the board, posted a video on X saying she was on the call when the supposed vote took place and was repeatedly muted when she tried to speak. In the caption she added:
"For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also, for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship."
What Remains Unclear
At this stage, the change appears to be physical — new signage on the Center — while questions remain about board procedures and whether the decision reflects a formal, transparent vote. The dispute over whether the board acted unanimously has drawn fresh attention to the process that led to the renaming and to broader criticism from the Kennedy family about the former president’s habit of affixing his name to institutions and projects.
Key facts: Kerry Kennedy publicly vowed to remove Trump’s letters; Maria Shriver criticized the renaming as unmerited; the White House said the board’s vote was unanimous, while board member Rep. Joyce Beatty says she was muted and that the vote was not on the agenda.
