Kerry Kennedy says Congress already funded the Kennedy Center's restoration and tells Trump "That's not your job"
Kerry KennedyPresident of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center and author of a biography of her mother, Ethel Kennedy, interviewed on CNN's The Amanpour Hour
On CNN's The Amanpour Hour, Kerry Kennedy compared putting Trump's name on the Kennedy Center to renaming the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial for him. She said the argument that there is no money for the center is "just not true" because Congress passed $246 million to restore it, and told Trump to focus on Americans' costs rather than the center.
“this is the memorial created by the United States Congress to a slain president. So, putting Trump's name on it would be like renaming the Washington Monument the Trump Washington Monument or the Trump Lincoln Memorial or the Trump Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. ... And their argument is they're not -- there is not money for it. But in the Big Beautiful Bill, they -- the Congress passed $246 million in order to restore the Kennedy Center. So that's just not true. ... So President Trump, do your job. Focus on the people's pain and the work that you're supposed to do in the -- in the Oval Office and not on the Kennedy Center. That's not your job.”
Interview
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Donald Trump link the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration?
On September 15, 2026, a federal judge barred the Kennedy Center board, chaired by Donald Trump, from inscribing "renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump" on its main building or renaming the grounds for him. The board then voted to close the main building, and Trump posted that renovation "cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name" and "will not take place" if that ruling is negative and not overturned. In Charlotte on September 16 he said the administration "should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down." The White House says the center will "inevitably continue to decline" without his intervention; Rep. Joyce Beatty's lawyers wrote that Trump said "if he is not recognized on the building, it will close and be ripped down." The dispute is over whether the renovation should depend on recognition for Trump's administration and what his remarks mean.
Source and context
Interview
About this source
CNN transcript of Christiane Amanpour's taped interview with Kerry Kennedy about her book on her mother, Ethel Kennedy. Near the end Amanpour asks about Trump putting his name on the Kennedy Center, and Kennedy answers on the naming, the center's funding and Trump's priorities.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Mediaite report on Kerry Kennedy's remarks about the Kennedy Center on CNN's The Amanpour Hour, with video of the interview.
Before the quotation
Christiane Amanpour interviewed Kennedy about her new book on her mother. Amanpour asked what she thought when she saw the Kennedy Center, named for President Kennedy after his assassination, under attack from the current president, "complete with putting his own name on it".
After the quotation
Asked how her mother would have responded, Kennedy said she would have been at the Kennedy Center taking the name off the wall, and called her "a woman of action".
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Trump's linking of the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration. Kennedy rejects putting his name on the building, disputes the funding argument for it by pointing to the $246 million Congress passed, and tells Trump the center is "not your job." We use Condemned because she rejects both the recognition and the reason given for it. Challenged the characterization is the closest competing label; it loses because she goes beyond disputing the funding claim and criticizes Trump's involvement itself.
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More from this case
Read the full caseTrump tells TIME "I'm not committing to anything" on the Kennedy Center, says his administration "should be recognized"
“I’m not committing to anything. We’re going to see how it plays out in court,” … “But if I build it, and if I agree that for the rest of my life, I’m going to be putting up $100 million to have it open to people … then I think the Trump administration should be recognized.” … “Well, why would I want to stick with something that’s going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, and I’m not even recognized?” … “It’s not me; it’s the administration.”Read statement
Jeff Merkley says Trump wants to destroy the Kennedy Center because the law bars his name on it
“Perhaps the greatest living memorial for a president is the Kennedy Center, in honor of our slain president who championed the arts. But now President Trump—without authorization from Congress—is trying to tear it down. First, he destroyed its programming, and now, he wants to destroy the building itself. All because the law says Trump can’t put his name on the building.”Read statement
Chellie Pingree says “it is bonkers” and that Trump is “the No. 1 problem” the Kennedy Center has had
“It is bonkers. … The No. 1 problem the Kennedy Center has had is President Trump.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Kerry Kennedy says Congress already funded the Kennedy Center's restoration and tells Trump "That's not your job"". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6246-on-cnn-s-the-amanpour-hour-kerry-kennedy