White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to rename the institution to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ in recognition of what she described as President Donald Trump’s efforts to save the building over the past year.
‘Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,’ said Levitt.
During a visit to the Kennedy Center in early December, Trump was asked whether he believed the performing arts center would eventually bear his name.
‘I don’t know. I hear that, but I don’t know,’ he said, adding that any such decision would be made by the center’s ‘very prestigious’ board.
The current Kennedy Center board includes numerous figures closely aligned with Trump, from current administration officials to media personalities and political advisers, according to the center’s website.
‘The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction,’ Vice President of public relations Roma Daravi told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
‘The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for America’s cultural center for generations to come,’ she added.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended an event at the Kennedy Center on December 7, highlighting the work of stars like Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Michael Crawford and KISS band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss.
An official with the center told Fox News Digital the name change follows recent precedent, pointing to the State Department’s decision earlier in December to add Trump’s name to the U.S. Institute of Peace and to past presidential administrations that have renamed military bases.
The official also pointed to Trump’s record on arts policy, noting that during his first term he signed the Music Modernization Act, supported emergency funding to help venues through Save Our Stages,as well as more recent measures to crack down on ticket scalping, and his backing of the American Music Fairness Act.