Board vote collides with a 1964 federal law
Congress passed a law in 1964, the year after Kennedy was assassinated, naming the center as a living memorial to the Democrat. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else and from placing another person’s name on the building’s exterior. The board’s December vote is the subject of a lawsuit in federal court.
Performance and attendance decline
Since Trump made a series of leadership changes at the center after taking office in 2025, numerous artists have canceled appearances, ticket sales and attendance have fallen, and viewership for the December broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors program dropped about 35% compared to the 2024 show. Trump, who served as host, had predicted viewership would soar.