Kerry Kennedy, niece of the late President John F. Kennedy, has fired back fiercely after workers added Donald Trump’s name to the iconic Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., promising to remove it with her own hands when the time comes.
The change happened on December 19, 2025, just a day after a heated board vote. Crews installed new lettering on the building’s facade, inserting “The Donald J. Trump and” right before the original “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, didn’t hold back on social media when photos of the new sign surfaced. “In three years and one month, I’m grabbing a pickax to yank those letters off the building—but I’ll need some help steadying the ladder,” she posted on X. “Who’s with me? I’m even applying for my carpenter’s union card to make it official!”
Her cousin, journalist and author Maria Shriver, also chimed in with a thoughtful but pointed critique. “Slapping your name onto a memorial honoring a truly great man doesn’t magically make you one,” she wrote. “It actually does the opposite. What message are you sending by putting yours on top? No other president would ever think to do this—not one.”
Shriver went further, questioning the legality: “This isn’t even allowed by law. Congress designated it as JFK’s living memorial back in 1964, and only they can alter that. A real leader would’ve told the board, ‘Thanks, but no—let it stay as it is.’”
The backlash builds on earlier objections from the Kennedy family. JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, had previously highlighted a 1983 law prohibiting additional memorials or plaques in the center’s public areas. And Rep. Joyce Beatty, a board member, disputed claims of a unanimous vote, saying she was muted during the call and couldn’t object.
For many in the Kennedy family, this move feels like an overreach on a site meant to honor JFK’s legacy in the arts. Whether the addition sticks long-term remains to be seen, but the family’s outrage has made one thing clear: they’re not letting it go quietly.