The fight over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has intensified into a political and legal dispute between President Donald Trump and Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is challenging efforts to put Trump’s name on the Washington performing arts institution.
The latest confrontation came during a virtual Kennedy Center board meeting, where Trump and the Black congresswoman engaged in a heated exchange over the future of the center, according to reports. Beatty, an ex officio board member, has fought efforts to add Trump’s name to the building. She argued that only Congress has the authority to formally change the institution’s name.
According to The Hill, Beatty said Trump called her “incompetent” during the meeting and accused her of obstructing efforts to renovate the center. Beatty pushed back, saying Trump had resorted to name-calling and responding that she knew he was “incompetent.”
Beatty has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of Trump’s changes to the Kennedy Center. She has argued that the institution was established by Congress as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and that its official name cannot be changed by the board alone.
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During a recent interview with NewsNation, Beatty ripped into Trump. “He has a limited vocabulary, so, you know, he knows words like dumb, you know, and things like that,” she said. “I was surprised that the board people let it go on. So, we had some exchange of words.”
The dispute comes as the Kennedy Center faces major renovation and infrastructure problems, according to POLITICO. The center’s board has voted to close much of the facility for extensive renovations, citing deteriorating infrastructure and safety concerns. A recent ceiling collapse has heightened the urgency of the planned work, WJLA reported.
Congress has approved hundreds of millions of dollars for renovations, but the funding and construction plans have become entangled with the dispute over Trump’s name. Trump has supported renovations while also seeking recognition at the center.
The controversy began after Trump reshaped the Kennedy Center’s leadership and became chairman of its board, The Root previously reported. His administration subsequently moved to place his name on the building. The move prompted legal challenges, including one involving Beatty.
A federal judge later ruled that the board could not add Trump’s name or create a memorial to him without congressional authorization. The Justice Department reportedly appealed the decision.
For now, the Kennedy Center remains at the center of a broader dispute over presidential power, congressional authority and the institution’s identity. Beatty continues to challenge the naming effort, while Trump and his supporters have defended the changes as part of an effort to renovate and reshape the center and add to his legacy.
