A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center has been canceled after the White House announced last week that President Donald Trump's name would be added to the facility. Chuck Redd, the show's host and musician, stated that he called off the performance following the announcement. As of last Friday, the building's facade reads "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts".

The decision to add Trump's name to the Kennedy Center has sparked controversy and debate. According to the White House, the president's handpicked board approved the decision, but some scholars argue that it violates the law. Trump had been suggesting for months that he was open to changing the center's name.

Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has led the holiday "Jazz Jams" at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William "Keter" Betts, told the Associated Press that he chose to cancel the concert when he saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then on the building. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but the center's website lists the show as canceled.

The Kennedy Center was established as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, with Congress passing a law in 1964 to that effect. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from adding any additional memorials to the site or putting another person's name on the building's exterior. Kerry Kennedy, niece of President Kennedy, has vowed to remove Trump's name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock believes that any changes would have to be approved by Congress.

Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio has sued over the renaming, calling it a "flagrant violation of the rule of law" and noting that the name cannot be changed without an act of Congress. Richard Grenell, the center's president appointed by Trump, has argued that the center's status as a memorial to Kennedy has not been changed.

Trump's involvement with the Kennedy Center marks a shift from his first term when he mostly ignored it. He has since forced out its leadership, overhauled the board, arranged for himself to head it, and hosted this year's Kennedy Center honors, breaking a long tradition of presidents primarily serving as spectators. These changes are part of what Trump says is a larger mission to combat "woke" culture at federal cultural institutions.

Since Trump's return to office, numerous artists have canceled Kennedy Center performances, including Issa Rae, Peter Wolf, and Lin-Manuel Miranda who canceled a planned production of "Hamilton".