Work commenced on Friday to add Donald Trump's name to Washington's iconic Kennedy Center, a day after the institution's board voted for the change.
Blue tarpaulins were swiftly erected to obscure the work, though a large letter 'D' was briefly seen on the exterior, alongside workers on scaffolding.
Named for Democratic president John F. Kennedy, the center's board, chaired by Donald Trump, voted to rename it 'The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts'.
Critics, including Democratic members of Congress and historians, argue only Congress can change the name.
This follows the recent addition of Donald Trump's name to the U.S. Institute of Peace building. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the decision on Thursday on X, attributing the change to the "unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation."
The president, who has previously jokingly referred to the venue as the “Trump Kennedy Center,” said he was surprised by the vote.
“Under current law, there I think is very little question that the Kennedy Center board cannot rename the Opera House after Melania Trump or pretty much anybody else and would need Congress’s permission for anything like that,” David Super, a Georgetown law professor, told The Washington Post earlier this year, as Congress was mulling renaming the center for the president or the first lady. “… That statute is pretty unequivocal, and I can’t really find any loopholes in it.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the center’s board, said the name change vote was not on the agenda and that she was muted on the call where it was discussed and not allowed to voice her opposition.
“This was not consensus,” she wrote on X. “This is censorship.”
