US President Donald J. Trump looks on as he makes an announcement on healthcare in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
On Friday, media personality Geraldo Rivera took to social media to literally beg President Donald Trump to stop his assault on the Kennedy Center. Rivera – who has been a close friend of Trump for nearly 50 years – warned the president that it would not bring him the “honor” he hopes for, suggesting the result would be quite the opposite.
“Dear President Trump,” posted Rivera, “As someone who has often supported you, including during the Russia, Russia, hoax, I ask that you forgo your announced intention to demolish the Kennedy Center if it is not named in your honor. There is no honor in that, only spite.”
Rivera’s plea comes as Trump’s quest to have his name added to the Kennedy Center building has escalated. Over the course of his second term, Trump has prioritized this project above nearly all else, dating back to December when his hand-picked board voted unanimously to add his name to the facade. While his name was initially mounted on the building, a federal judge ruled against it in May, resulting in its removal in June. Since then, Trump and his accomplices have attempted to replace the name under a variety of pretexts, but were slapped down by the court each time.
These losses prompted Trump to muse about demolishing the building and the board to claim that the center would have to declare bankruptcy unless the president’s name was added. Then on Tuesday, a federal judge blocked the renaming of the building once and for all, as well as the board’s plans to rename the campus where it’s located the "President Donald J. Trump Plaza." The judge spoke in no uncertain terms, saying, “Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress' blessing.”
Things escalated fast from there. Almost immediately after the decision, the board announced that the center would close. Then a reporter snapped a photo of Trump with what appeared to be a sign announcing the center’s demolition, prompting a judge to order that the administration must give 30 days' notice before any demolition so a court can look into its legality. Some have warned that Trump may send in the bulldozers despite the order, which could result in a full-blown constitutional crisis.
According to lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), a Kennedy Center trustee who has sued to keep Trump’s name off the building, “This constant effort to add Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center facade is the definition of insanity. This is now the third attempt to deface this sacred memorial and turn it into a vanity project for one man’s ego. Worse still, now Trump is taking the Center hostage and threatening to in effect kill it unless he gets his way. This has to stop.” Trump’s niece, psychologist Mary Trump, warned, “He's going to punish the rest of us simply because he can't get his way.”