by Makenna Babcock ‘28

Trump renamed the Kennedy Memorial Center for Performing Arts to the Trump-Kennedy Center. Over the course of his second term, he has made several changes to honor himself. He also has renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, and he reportedly pushed elected officials to name New York’s Penn Station and the Washington Dulles International Airport after him as well. There were discussion about putting his face on a commemorative coin as part of celebrations this summer for the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.

Trump’s goal when renaming things, according to the White House website, is to promote the heritage of the nation and to ensure that future generations of Americans celebrate this history. While Trump’s supporters appear to be not concerned about the expansion of the Trump name becoming interconnected with American institutions, critics and opponents see the renaming of buildings after himself as narcissistic.

After the renaming of the Kennedy Center, there has been significant public backlash, as well as cancellations by artists scheduled to perform at the center. Renée Fleming, a highly celebrated Grammy winning singer and actress, as well as a participant of the National Symphony Orchestra, chose to withdraw from all shows taking place at the Kennedy Center.

Renowned composer Phillip Glass has taken his premiere symphony show out of the venue as well, claiming the misalignment of his own values and the ones of the administration.“Symphony No.15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,” Glass said in a statement as his reason for the withdrawal. Along with the withdrawals of shows, employees are also leaving, such as Kevin Couch, the senior vice-president of artistic programming arts, who was in the position for two weeks.

In response to this criticism and upheaval, Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center appointed by Trump, has said that the performance center needed re-programming “We cannot have arts institutions that lose money because you have programming that is woke or not popular. We need popular programming to sustain arts institutions,” said Grenell in an interview with PBS.
Abruptly in January, Trump announced that he would close the Kennedy Center for the next two years. He claims that it will be necessary in order to make renovations, but the rapid cancellations and low audience numbers suggest that it may be a way to take attention off of the abandonment of the venue by both artists and patrons.

Trump comes from an extensive background in business, taking over his father’s real estate company, the Trump Organization. One of his first endeavours was naming a hotel in New York City after himself, calling it the Trump International Hotel. While Trump has had many real estate properties, finance companies, and several media and entertainment services named after him, his actions as president suggest that he is moving onto a rebranding of the country itself in his name.