The historic John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC has displayed Donald Trump's name on its facade since Friday. The president's name was added a day after the center's board of trustees voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. Workers affixed Trump's name to the building this Friday, above the center's original name. The center's website had already been updated on Thursday to indicate that it is now "The Trump-Kennedy Center." The move has sparked controversy and criticism from some members of the family of the late President Kennedy, after whom the center, an icon of Washington's cultural life for decades, was originally named. "Our president, Donald J. Trump, has not only saved this historic building, but has also created a truly bipartisan venue to celebrate the arts," the center said in a statement Friday. Trump took effective control of the historic Kennedy Center in February, when he dismissed all members of the previous board and appointed a new one composed of loyalists who elected him as president. President.

The board voted in favor of the new name on Thursday, but some members have complained that they were not allowed to speak or vote.

Controversial vote

Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that he was “surprised” and “honored” by the decision, although a few days earlier he appeared to joke about the possibility of a name change for the center during an event held there.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Thursday that the board “voted unanimously” in favor of the name change because of “the incredible job President Trump has done over the past year to save the building.”

However, Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and an ex officio member of the board, disputed Leavitt's claim.

“As I tried to press my button to express my concern, ask questions, and certainly not vote for this, I was silenced,” Beatty said in a post on X. “Even so, in the end it was said to be a unanimous vote.”

Other board members also claimed they were silenced during the vote and would have voted against the name change if they had been allowed to.

Several members of Congress have stated that the law that established the center in the 1960s stipulates that its name cannot be changed. It also states that “no additional monuments or plaques of a commemorative nature shall be designated or installed in the public areas” of the center. Senator Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) stated in a social media post that the work on the building “must stop, as it is illegal to make changes without Congressional authorization.” Meanwhile, Republican Representative Robert Onder of Missouri introduced a bill in July to rename the Kennedy Center. Outrage in the Kennedy Family: Members of the Kennedy family expressed their outrage at the name change. “It is incomprehensible that this sitting president would seek to rename this great monument dedicated to President Kennedy,” said Maria Shriver, the late president's niece. “It is beyond absurd that he thinks adding his name before President Kennedy's is acceptable.”

Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, suggested the name change was prompted by his decision to run for a New York House seat.

He said on social media that “Trump is explicitly motivated to act” to stop his candidacy. “Our campaign stands for everything Trump cannot stand or defeat.”