Sen. John Kennedy Says No Living President Should Have a Building Named After Them Amid Donald Trump's Kennedy Center Demands

Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, is trying to legally stop President Donald Trump from putting his name on the Kennedy Center.

The 74-year-old senator — who has no relation to John F. Kennedy, for whom the Kennedy Center is named — proposed a rule that would prohibit living presidents from affixing their name to federal buildings.

Kennedy has emerged as a more prominent Trump critic in the GOP in recent months.

He appeared on CBS News' Face the Nation and discussed Trump's unceasing and legally dubious efforts to get his name affixed to the Kennedy Center and other federal buildings.

"I may end up with a sombrero on my head, but I also think we ought to have a rule that no politician can have a building named after him when he’s alive," he said, referring to a controversy in which Trump used AI to depict Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer with sombreros.

The senator also weighted in on recent, taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads that are also facing bipartisan pushback.

Kennedy said government officials should not be allowed to "spend public money on private ads for themselves."

"The White House sees it differently, but you can’t spend public money to promote yourself," he added.

Kennedy said neither Trump, himself, or former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should get that privilege. Noem was infamously fired in part for making ads trying to improve her brand in the Trump administration.

Trump has been trying to get his name attached to the Kennedy Center throughout his second term. In 2025, he put his name above Kennedy's, but a judge ordered that it must be removed, as only Congress can approve renaming a federal building.

He is currently trying to a note added to the building that says he is responsible for its renovation, which is also facing legal pushback.

Trump's handpicked Kennedy Center board are arguing that putting Trump's name on the building is the only way to get him to pony up the funds for the renovation, but critics are skeptical.

He has proposed similar deals for non-government buildings including New York's Penn Station and D.C.'s Dulles Airport.

Adding to Trump's Kennedy Center embarrassment is that reporting suggests he is largely responsible for its financial collapse.

Longtime donors and attendees stepped away from the Kennedy Center after installed his board and demanded a correction to so-called "woke programming."

Once he added his name to the building, funding "dropped off a cliff," leaving the Center over $100 million short of its revenue goals.