Republican efforts to rename the Kennedy Center in honor of President Donald Trump, and to christen its Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump, are likely illegal, NBC News reported Monday.
The report cited multiple congressional and legal experts who challenge the legality of the move because federal law strictly prohibits such renaming. That could lead to litigation if lawmakers attempt to push ahead, the report said.
House Republicans recently advanced an amendment, introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson (R‑Idaho), proposing to rename the Center’s Opera House as the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”
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The measure, intended to honor her purported “support and commitment to promoting the arts and humanities,” was attached to a broader fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill funding the Interior Department and other agencies.
It passed the House Appropriations Committee by a 33-25 vote, and now awaits votes in the full House and Senate.
On the following day, Rep. Bob Onder (R‑Mo.) introduced the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act”, which would rename the entire Kennedy Center the “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts”. That legislation has not yet received any action from the House.
Former Kennedy Center trustees and legal experts point out that the Center was founded by a 1958 statute as a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, and federal U.S. code enacted in 1983 forbids the installation of any additional memorials or name changes to its public-facing facilities beyond the Eisenhower Theater — originally the only venue permitted to bear the president’s name.
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As stated in Title 20, Chapter 3, subchapter V §76h of U.S. Code: “After December 2, 1983, 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.” That effectively bars renaming in honor of political figures like the Trump’s without new legislation.
Republicans would need new legislation to make the change, per the report.
A spokesperson for Rep. Chellie Pingree (D‑Maine), the ranking Democrat on the Interior Appropriations subcommittee, told NBC: “Legally, they can’t just slap her name on it without congressional action.”
They added that if the GOP fails to pass its budget — “which they usually can’t” — the proposal to rename the facility after Melania Trump will collapse: “If Republicans can’t pass their budget … the Melania Trump renaming provision dies.”
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The spokesperson warned, “The only real wildcard is whether Trump or his allies ignore the law entirely and try to do it unilaterally. But that would have no legal basis — and would almost certainly trigger a court fight.”