Republicans want to rename Kennedy Center’s opera house after Melania Trump
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House Republicans propose renaming Kennedy Center Opera House in honor of Melania Trump
House Republicans vote to name the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after First Lady Melania Trump. President Donald Trump has said he will step down from the board of trustees. The center is the second-largest in the U.S. behind the Madison, Wisconsin-based Madison Opera House. It is home to the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s highest honor for achievement in the arts and sciences.
OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:45 PM – Tuesday, July 22, 2025
House Republicans have proposed changing the name of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House in honor of First Lady Melania Trump.
On Tuesday, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee approved an amendment in a 33-25 vote on an annual spending bill to rename the opera house at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”
“This is an excellent way to recognize her support and commitment to promoting the arts,” said Rep. Michael Simpson (R-Idaho.). Advertisement
President Donald Trump currently serves as the honorary chairman of the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center and has fired multiple board members once he appointed himself to the role.
According to Trump’s announcement that he will be taking over the honorary chairman role, the president stated that he and then-chair David Rubenstein “do not share [the same] Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump wrote in the post.
The opera house, the second-largest theater in the center with 2,347 seats, serves as the site for the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s highest award for lifetime achievement in the arts.
“Over the years, the Opera House has welcomed dozens of the world’s great dance and opera companies and has hosted some of the most important artistic events of the last quarter-century,” the center’s website states.
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Republicans propose naming Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump
Since its opening in 1971, a bipartisan tone has predominated at the Kennedy Center. The center’s three major stages — the Eisenhower Theater, the Opera House and the Concert Hall — have never previously been renamed. A Republican proposal would rename the second-largest theater in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after the first lady. If it were to become law, the amendment would mark a further blurring of the center and the Trump administration. It is unprecedented and be honest with you, it is an honorary chair of the Kennedy Centre board. It would be far from the first venue to be adorned with the Trump name, a distinction that his skyscers, golf clubs and other businesses share. It was one of many such ideas from House Republicans, as The Washington Post reported in June. Others include carving Trump’s face into Mountmore, renaming Washington Dulles after International Airport and renaming the White House.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) proposed the amendment during a committee markup of the bill funding the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal 2026. The committee adopted the measure by a vote of 33-25.
Since its opening in 1971, a bipartisan tone has predominated at the Kennedy Center, where crowds have often drawn in arts patrons from across the political spectrum. Its board of trustees members were generally split between Republicans and Democrats, until February when President Donald Trump fired board members who had been appointed by President Joe Biden and replaced them with his own. The trustees then voted him in as president of the Kennedy Center board.
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If it were to become law, the amendment would mark a further blurring of the center and the Trump administration. Four large portraits of the first and second couples now hang in the Hall of Nations.
During the hearing, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said Republicans had “snuck in, I think, something that is slightly divisive, which is renaming one section of the Kennedy Center after the family member of this administration.”
The bill under consideration would provide $37 million in appropriations to the Kennedy Center, a 17 percent decrease from last year and in line with the president’s budget proposal. But Pingree also pointed to the $250 million appropriated in the recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act to the center.
“The Republicans have now given the president six times the normal amount of money to run the Kennedy Center, carte blanche over who will be on the board, and how different parts of the Kennedy Center — perhaps the whole Kennedy Center itself — will be named, and this amendment confirms that,” Pingree said.
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The center’s three major stages — the Eisenhower Theater, the Opera House and the Concert Hall — have never previously been renamed.
“This is an excellent way to recognize [Melania Trump’s] support and commitment to promoting the arts, and I would encourage members to vote for this Republican en bloc amendment,” said Simpson, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on interior, environment and related agencies.
The Opera House seats 2,364 patrons and may be the center’s most prominent space. It hosts the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the arts institution’s marquee event. Celebrities pack into the seats alongside senators, congresspeople and — most notably — the first and second families. The ceremony takes place after a weekend of events, including a dinner at the State Department and a meeting with the president at the White House.
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Trump broke tradition during his first presidential term by pulling out of the Honors weekend “to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction,” after Norman Lear, one of the honorees, said he would boycott the White House portion.
The Opera House would be far from the first venue to be adorned with the Trump name, a distinction that his skyscrapers, golf clubs and other businesses share.
It is not the first such proposal. In late May, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) proposed the halting of funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority unless its name was changed to Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (i.e. WMAGA) and unless Metrorail (the D.C. area’s subway system) was renamed the “Trump Train.”
It was one of many such ideas from House Republicans, as The Washington Post reported in June. Others include carving Trump’s face into Mount Rushmore, putting his face on U.S. currency, renaming Washington Dulles International Airport after him and making his birthday a national holiday.
“It is unprecedented and to be honest with you, it’s completely wild,” John White, professor emeritus of politics at Catholic University, told The Post at the time. “History shows that most things are named after presidents after they have either long left office or been deceased.”
House Republicans Vote to Rename Kennedy Center Opera House After Melania Trump
House Republicans have made passage of the fiscal 2026 Interior-Environment spending bill contingent, at least for now, on renaming the opera house at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after Melania Trump. The amendment was adopted by a vote of 33 to 25, though the proposed legislation with the renaming amendment has yet to receive a vote by the full Congress.
The procedural markup of the spending bill voted on by House appropriators on Tuesday contained a short amendment from Idaho Republican Representative Mike Simpson: “Makes technical changes, designates the First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”
The amendment was adopted by a vote of 33 to 25, though the proposed legislation with the renaming amendment has yet to receive a vote by the full Congress, nor is such polling assured.
The possible venue renaming follows U.S. President Donald Trump and wife Melania in mid-June attending a local debut of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. The performance was marked by a protest attendance by local drag queens and an eruption of booing and reactive MAGA-rally-style chants from the crowd.
The John F. Kennedy Centre had already been retooled soon after Trump took control of the institution at the start of his second term, fired its entire board, then replaced them with loyalists including Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, Second Lady Usha Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s wife, Allison, and Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Laura Ingraham.
The U.S. leader’s hand-picked board soon elected Trump to be chairman of the cultural venue. A touring production of the hit musical Hamilton decided against going ahead with plans to play the Kennedy Center in light of Trump’s takeover of the institution.
US House Republicans push to rename Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump
Kennedy Center’s famed opera house could soon be renamed in honour of Melania Trump. House Republicans advance an amendment seeking to designate it the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House” The move comes months after US President Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board and appointed himself as its chair. It remains unclear when Republican leaders in the House intend to bring the amended legislation to a full chamber vote.
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The House Appropriations Committee approved the proposal on Tuesday as part of the interior, environment, and related agencies annual spending bill. The panel voted 33-25 in favour of the amendment, which was one among several others under consideration, according to The Hill.
The move comes months after US President Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board and appointed himself as its chair, a break from tradition that drew criticism at the time. He had accused the performing arts institution of being too “woke,” The Hill noted.
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The Hill also reported that both Trump and Melania attended a performance of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center last month, despite having skipped the annual Kennedy Center Honors during his first term, another deviation from presidential norms.
“Over the years, the Opera House has welcomed dozens of the world’s great dance and opera companies and has hosted some of the most important artistic events of the last quarter century,” the Kennedy Center states on its website.
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With more than 2,300 seats, the opera house is the second-largest theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and frequently hosts its marquee performances, The Hill highlighted.
Neither the Kennedy Center nor the office of the first lady immediately responded to requests for comment on the potential name change, The Hill said.
It remains unclear when Republican leaders in the House intend to bring the amended legislation to a full chamber vote. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
Republicans Try to Name the Kennedy Center After Melania
The effort to slap the Trump name on the performing arts center is the latest in a series of attempts by GOP lawmakers to rename prominent landmarks after the Trumps. Rep. Mike Simpson introduced the amendment to rename the Opera House as GOP lawmakers were marking up the spending bill for the Interior Department for FY2026. The center’s three major sections, the Eisenhower Theater, Opera House, and Concert Hall, have never been renamed, but the move would further blur the lines between the cultural center and the Trump administration. President Donald Trump announced that he was firing members of the Kennedy Center board of trustees and naming himself chairman.
The effort to slap the Trump name on the performing arts center is the latest in a series of attempts by GOP lawmakers to rename prominent landmarks after the Trumps.
The amendment to rename the Opera House was introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson as GOP lawmakers were marking up the spending bill for the Interior Department for FY2026.
“First Lady Melania Trump serves as the Honorary Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Kennedy Center. Naming a theater after her is an excellent way to recognize her appreciation for the arts,” said Simpson in a statement provided to Daily Beast.
“As Chairman of the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee—which oversees federal funding for capital repairs and operations and maintenance at the Kennedy Center—I am proud to honor her support and commitment in promoting the arts and humanities.”
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arriving to attend the opening night of “Les Miserables” at the Kennedy Center on June 11, 2025. Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
Democrats blasted Republicans for trying to rename part of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., while trying to slash funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Kennedy Center’s budget.
The center’s three major sections, the Eisenhower Theater, Opera House, and Concert Hall, have never been renamed, but the move would further blur the lines between the cultural center and the Trump administration.
In February, President Donald Trump announced that he was firing members of the Kennedy Center board of trustees and naming himself chairman.
The president named his close supporter Richard Grenell as president of the center. Some of the officials the president appointed this year to serve as trustees include his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Sergio Gor and Second Lady Usha Vance.
He also appointed two Fox News hosts, Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, to serve on the board.
As part of the Trump makeover, large portraits of the president, first lady, vice president, and second lady also currently hang in the center.
Unlike former President Joe Biden and other presidents for decades, Trump did not attend the annual Kennedy Center honors during his first term in office.
Last month, the president and first lady were in attendance for the Kennedy Center’s opening night of Les Misérables.
Their appearance at the performance was greeted with mixed reaction as some attendees applauded their arrival while others booed from the audience at the Trumps looked on.
Source: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/22/congress/kennedy-center-melania-trump-00467996