Trump Shows Off Potential Marble Armrests for Renamed Kennedy Center: 'Unlike Anything Ever Seen or Done Before'


Trump Shows Off Potential Marble Armrests for Renamed Kennedy Center: 'Unlike Anything Ever Seen or Done Before'

"Unlike anything ever done or seen before!" Trump wrote of the potential renovations on Truth Social

President Donald Trump is sharing details about the upcoming renovations at the newly-named "The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts."

In a post shared to Truth Social on Friday, Dec. 26, the president, 79, featured photos of several white pieces of marble, which he said were being considered for armrests for seating at the performing arts institution in Washington, D.C.

"Potential Marble armrests for the seating at The Trump Kennedy Center," Trump wrote alongside the photos. "Unlike anything ever done or seen before!"

Shortly after taking office, Trump seized control of the Kennedy Center by purging the appointed members of the board and installing his own appointees. The Trump-friendly board then established Trump as chairman of the arts organization, which was dedicated in 1964 as a "living memorial" to assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

"I want to make sure it runs properly," Trump said at the time. "We don't need woke at the Kennedy Center, and we don't need -- some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace that they were even put on."

Never miss a story -- sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The president's name was added to signage on the Kennedy Center's exterior on Dec. 19. Photos from outside the building showed work crews adding "The Donald Trump and" above the previously existing lettering, which read, "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on the previous day that the board of the historic venue had "voted unanimously" to rename the building to the "Trump-Kennedy Center."

The Kennedy Center was established by an act of Congress, and Trump's critics have argued in recent days that only Congress is authorized to formally change its name.

Even so, the Kennedy Center almost immediately updated its logo on the website and social media to read "The Trump Kennedy Center," and the next day, Trump's name was added to the signage on the building's exterior.

In her Dec. 18 statement about the newly named "Trump Kennedy Center," Leavitt claimed that the institution's MAGA-aligned board "voted unanimously" to rename the center. However, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board who has an automatic vote because of her position in Congress, alleged she was silenced while trying to oppose the change.

"Be clear: I was on that call, and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted," Beatty said in a video shared via X on Dec. 18. "Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns who were online, yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote."

Prominent members of JFK's family -- including grandson Jack Schlossberg, grandnephew Joe Kennedy III, and nieces Maria Shriver and Kerry Kennedy -- have spoken out against the unusual effort to put Trump's name on another president's memorial.

Schlossberg argued on social media over the summer that the move would go against federal law, citing a congressional act that said, "no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts."

Previous articleNext article

POPULAR CATEGORY

misc

18181

entertainment

20711

corporate

17577

research

10456

wellness

17254

athletics

21657