Kerry Kennedy, daughter of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, vowed Friday to "grab a pickax" to remove President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after it was added to the building earlier that day.
"Three years and one month from today, I'm going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I'm going to need help holding the ladder," she posted to X.
"Are you in? Applying for my carpenter's card today, so it'll be a union job!!!"
The Kennedy Center, which Congress designated as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, added Trump's name to the performing arts center on Friday, a day after the center's board of trustees voted to make the change.
The board, selected by Trump, voted unanimously to add his name to the center originally named for the 35th president, a Democrat. Trump, a Republican, is also the board's chair.
The Kennedy Center said the vote recognized Trump's work to revitalize the institution.
The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone other than John F. Kennedy, and from putting another person's name on the building's exterior.
Kerry Kennedy criticized the decision.
"President Trump and his administration have spent the past year repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just," she wrote Thursday on X.
"President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy's."
The Kennedy Center is the latest building in Washington to have Trump's name added to it. The U.S. Institute of Peace was recently renamed after him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.