History has a way of circling back because this week, a 1964 letter from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is circulating again. In it, the former first lady warned that naming the Kennedy Center after her late husband could become a risk in the future. And yes, six decades later, Donald Trump has plastered his name on the building and shut the place down for a two-year “gaudy” overhaul.
The letter in question was written in October 1964 to Kennedy Center chairman Roger Stevens when Jackie was still mourning JFK’s assassination. She admitted she wasn’t capable of making decisions and asked whether her husband even needed another memorial. His grave and presidential library were enough, she felt. All she wanted was to let him rest in peace.
But Jackie said that if the Center were to bear Kennedy’s name, the family must influence its leadership. Plus, she also wrote how to appoint trustees, as it must never “fall into the realm of political patronage.” Friends of the then-president who genuinely cared about the arts were welcome to join. But political favors and campaign paybacks should not be a reason to do so, she warned.
If those conditions were not met, she said she would ask Congress to change its name.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, June 1972, on her first visit to the Kennedy Center, which had been voted by Congress in 1964 to be the “sole national memorial” to the late President who gave his life while serving his country. (Leonard Bernstein at right) pic.twitter.com/CPXOXuGlUZ
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) December 20, 2025
Donald Trump is now in his second term, which takes us back to Jackie’s worst-case scenario. Within weeks of returning to the White House, Trump became chairman of the Kennedy Center and stacked the board with MAGA allies. Ric Grenell became president, and Sergio Gor became secretary. Fox News host Laura Ingraham joined, too. Bipartisanship left the stage.
Then, in December, it was declared the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” The White House claimed the board vote was unanimous. Democratic ex officio members flatly disputed that, saying they were sidelined. Congressional Democrats argue that the rename is illegal without congressional approval, as it had been them who once named it.
Artists soon noticed and began pulling out in protest, and ticket sales fell as a result.
Last week, Trump again announced the Center would close for two years starting July 4, 2026, for a “complete rebuilding.” The building, he said, was “tired, broken, and dilapidated.” Construction would be better without audience interruption.
Trump announces that he will close the Kennedy Center for two years starting July 4, 2026 which he says will be for renovations pic.twitter.com/tJRqHANEQz
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 1, 2026
Kennedy family members are now livid. Jack Schlossberg (the only grandson of JFK) has accused Trump of trying to take the Kennedy Center “for himself,” while Joe Kennedy III called the move a “trespass on the People’s will.” Maria Shriver, on the other hand, suggested the renovation was a face-saving maneuver after mass artist cancellations via a social media post.
If Jackie Kennedy were alive today, do you think she would ask Congress to take her husband’s name off the building?
