PoliticsKerry Kennedy Says Donald Trump’s Obsession With Her Uncle’s Legacy Threatens Kennedy Center’s Future Amid $250 Million Standoff
Donald Trump has been trying to rename the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center to include his own moniker.
Sept. 16 2026, Published 12:53 p.m. ET
Kerry Kennedy has accused President Donald Trump of "hostage-taking" after the Trump-appointed board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to shut down the historic building indefinitely.
The escalating conflict centers on a bitter legal battle over Trump’s efforts to place his name on the national monument, along with the board's claims that the center faces sudden financial ruin.
After a previous attempt to rename the venue the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center," a federal judge ruled that only Congress can rename the establishment.
Inside the Drama
The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to shut down months after the POTUS' name was removed from the building.
Most recently, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked a revised attempt to install inscriptions honoring Trump or to name the grounds "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
Hours after losing the naming effort in court, the Trump-stacked board voted to close the main building.
Trump posted on Truth Social that a planned $250 million renovation project would not move forward until the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the judge's order.
The Building Needs Renovations
Congress had already approved a $250 million remodel.
The board claims the building is on the brink of bankruptcy. It requires major safety overhauls, with critics and members of the Kennedy family noting a GOP-led Congress already approved $250 million for the renovations last year.
Speaking on CNN, Kerry — niece of John F. Kennedy — blasted the administration's claims of an immediate financial crisis.
The 58-year-old Kennedy argued that funding already exists and questioned why the administration is now threatening bankruptcy.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
'All of a Sudden, It's Bankrupt'
Kerry Kennedy believes the president is to blame for the establishment's bankruptcy.
"The court said you can't put your name on it; then, all of a sudden, it's bankrupt," she noted.
She criticized the presidents hyper-fixation on the center, comparing it to other ventures: "This is like so many other things that Trump has touched. It's a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it.”
Reports suggest the financial strain stems from massive artist boycotts, plummeting ticket sales and canceled corporate sponsorships after the administration took over the board.
The Kennedys Stand Against Things Donald Trump Represents
Kerry Kennedy believes her father, Robert F. Kennedy, would 'detest everything' about Donald Trump.
Other family members, including Maria Shriver, have chimed in on social media, calling the administration's refusal to release the funds or allow renovations without branding "small-minded" and "narcissistic.”
Kerry has been a vocal and consistent critic of Donald, frequently describing him as a direct threat to American values, democracy and her family's legacy.
"Donald Trump is anathema to everything our family stands for,” she said in 2024.
She asserted that her father, Robert F. Kennedy, and uncle would have "detested everything about Trump," specifically pointing to his "lying, his selfishness, his rage, cynicism, hatred, racism, fascist sympathies, deliberate misinformation about vaccines, [and] criminal felony convictions."
