Trump booed, cheered at Kennedy Center. Now opera house may be renamed for Melania

Kinsey Crowley and Jennifer Sangalang,

 USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida

Palm Beach Daily News
Thu, July 24, 2025 



When President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the Kennedy Center last month to see “Les Misérables,” part of the crowd booed when the couple stood up.

Roughly six weeks later, a House panel voted to rename the Kennedy Center venue where Les Mis appeared "First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”

As president of the United States, it’s not uncommon to have places, monuments and streets bearing your name. Earlier this month, the road in front of Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, known as Southern Boulevard, was approved by Palm Beach County, Florida, commissioners to be renamed President Donald J. Trump Boulevard. Next month’s release of Trump Mobile – complete with gold cell phone and monthly plan – is another example.

More: Lawmakers vote to name Kennedy Center opera house after Melania Trump

On June 11, the president and first lady attended the opening night of “Les Misérables” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Melania Trump stood alongside her husband when Donald Trump appeared on the balcony. A cacophony of jeers, cheers and claps broke out ahead of a "USA" chant, video posted on X (and in this story) shows.

On July 22, a House panel advanced a measure to rename a venue at the Kennedy Center in honor of Melania Trump. The measure was voted on as part of a larger amendment approved by the Appropriations Committee. The larger House and Senate still have to vote on the spending bill.

The theater is presently designated as the "Opera House," located between the "Concert Hall" and the "Eisenhower Theater."

Donald Trump had never attended a Kennedy Center show during his first term, but he has waged a conservative takeover on the institution since returning to the White House earlier this year. He designated himself chairman shortly after he took office.

Contributing: Samantha Neely, USA TODAY Network-Florida

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Kennedy Center may rename opera house after Melania Trump




Fact Check: JFK's grandson Jack Schlossberg slammed GOP attempt to rename Kennedy Center after Melania Trump

Anna Rascouët-Paz
Thu, July 24, 2025 

Getty Images


Claim:

Jack Schlossberg, grandson of John F. Kennedy, criticized efforts by U.S. House Republicans in July 2025 to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after first lady Melania Trump.

Rating:
Rating: True

After U.S. House Republicans moved to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after first lady Melania Trump on July 22, 2025, a rumor spread that Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President Kennedy, slammed the effort in an Instagram post.

For example, the Facebook page for Occupy Democrats relayed the claim in a July 23, 2025, post, adding that Schlossberg "refuses to stand by as MAGA tarnishes his family's legacy":


(Facebook page Occupy Democrats)

The post had gained 266,000 reactions and 29,000 comments. Further, it was reshared 105,000 times on the social media platform, spreading the claim. Occupy Democrats also posted it on Instagram (archived) and X (archived). In addition, Snopes readers searched the website seeking to confirm the veracity of the claim.

The rumor is true. On July 22, 2025, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives passed an amendment that would rename Kennedy Center to First Lady Melania Trump Opera House. The amendment, introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho, passed as part of the 2026 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The bill and amendment had yet to become law.

In response, Schlossberg, whose mother is JFK's and Jacqueline Kennedy's (later Onassis) daughter Caroline Kennedy, posted several images, including a screen capture of a report by The Hill on the amendment. He added a caption criticizing the move (archived):




(Instagram user @jackuno)

Schlossberg's post had amassed 30,638 likes as of this writing. The caption, which opened with a quote by his grandfather, read (emphasis ours):


"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces — but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers. "

JFK believed the arts made our country great and could be our most effective weapon in the fight for civil rights and against authoritarian governments around the world.

He took political heat for it at the time — for inviting black artists to the White House, like the Staples Singers. For supporting black Americans like Harry Belafonte and James Baldwin on global tours to showcase the best of our society.

Pablo Cassals, a symbol of resistance to fascism, played for President Kennedy. Yo-yo Ma did too… when he was just 6 years old. Robert Frost performed at JFK's inaugural. The Mona Lisa came and visited the WH.

The Trump Administration stands for freedom of oppression, not expression. He uses his awesome powers to suppress free expression and instill fear. But this isn't about the arts.

[President Donald] Trump is obsessed with being bigger than JFK , with minimizing the many heroes of our past, as if that elevates him. It doesn't.

But there's hope — art lasts forever, and no one can change what JFK and our shared history stands for.

Snopes contacted the White House to ask whether President Donald Trump or his wife Melania Trump had requested House Republicans to rename the opera house.
Sources:

Kurtz, Judy. "House GOP Moves to Rename Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump." The Hill, 22 July 2025, thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5413914-kennedy-centers-opera-house-melania-trump-gop/. Accessed 24 July 2025.

"Rep. Simpson Moves to Name Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump." U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson - 2nd District of Idaho, 22 July 2025, simpson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401722. Accessed 24 July 2025.

JFK's Grandson Claims Republicans Aren't Allowed to Rename Kennedy Center Theater After Melania Trump

The performing arts center was established as a "living memorial" to President John F. Kennedy, though House Republicans have now proposed using the institution to honor Melania as well

Rachel Raposas
Thu, July 24, 2025
PEOPLE


JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty; ANDREW THOMAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty; Chip Somodevilla/GettyJack Schlossberg, the Kennedy Center, and Melania Trump.


Jack Schlossberg is advocating for the Kennedy Center to remain a memorial dedicated solely to his grandfather.

President John F. Kennedy's only grandson reacted on Wednesday, July 23, to a new Republican effort to rename the Kennedy Center's Opera House after first lady Melania Trump.

The performing arts center in Washington, D.C., which was recently overtaken by President Donald Trump, was designated in 1964 as a "living memorial" for JFK.

In a Wednesday Instagram post, Schlossberg slammed Republicans' proposal to put a Trump flair on his grandfather's memorial, highlighting a potentially conflicting federal law that dictates how the Kennedy Center should operate.

The federal statute that Schlossberg screenshotted states that as of Dec. 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."

"Plain reading of the statute makes clear — YOU CAN'T DO THAT," Schlossberg, 32, wrote in the caption of his post. On top of the screenshot, the Harvard Law School alum also wrote, "Law prohibits renaming Kennedy Center."


Kayla Bartkowski/GettyThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

The Kennedy Center was opened as an interactive memorial for the late president, per Public Law 88-260, which explains why no other memorials are permitted within the center.

Kennedy, a devoted supporter of the arts, frequently advocated for what he called "our contribution to the human spirit," per the center's site. Though plans to open a national cultural center in D.C. were already in the works before Kennedy's death, the establishment was redesignated as a JFK memorial in the months after his assassination. Construction began in 1964, and the center opened in 1971.

Schlossberg's passion for upholding the Kennedy Center's legacy comes after a group of Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee advanced a proposal on Tuesday to rename the Kennedy Center's Opera House so that it is called the "First Lady Melania Trump Opera House."

The committee included the Melania proposal in a larger spending bill that has not yet reached the full House floor for a vote.

PEOPLE reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Kennedy Center for comment about the statute Schlossberg cited.

Kevin Wolf/APInside the Kennedy Center Opera House

Earlier this year, Trump fired most of the board at the Kennedy Center, appointed his supporters in their place and subsequently asked them to elect him as chair. Since then, many in the arts community have bashed the president's involvement.

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Melania, who is considered an honorary chair of the center as the sitting first lady, has only made one prominent public appearance at the institution since her husband took office in January, to attend the opening night of Les Misérables with Donald in the Opera House that could soon bear her name.

Several lead cast members in the musical boycotted the performance that night because of the Trumps' presence, and when the first couple entered the venue for the show, they were met with a mix of boos and cheers.