Republicans propose naming Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump
A Republican proposal would rename the second-largest theater in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after the first lady, if legislation considered Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee becomes law.
The first lady, following tradition, is an honorary chair of the Kennedy Center board. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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.
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.
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.
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.'
Brianna Tucker contributed to this report.
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