2026-08-14T16:48:49.939Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/14/politics/trump-kennedy-center-ballroom
共和党距离2026年中期选举不到三个月，正面临一场可能颇为艰难的选战。但似乎没人能够——甚至或许根本没人打算——劝说唐纳德·特朗普总统降低这一风险带来的损失。
近期两起事件便是绝佳例证。
上周五，特朗普向最高法院提起上诉，要求能够继续修建他梦寐以求的私人舞厅——而美国民众本就不支持这一项目。就在前一天，特朗普与他亲手挑选的肯尼迪中心董事会再次尝试将特朗普的名字冠于该建筑之上。
这两起举动都表明，特朗普仍沉迷于自我满足与自我美化，即便这正日益以共和党利益为代价。
此前一名联邦法官驳回了将该中心重新命名为“特朗普肯尼迪中心”的尝试，迫使政府从建筑外立面移除了特朗普的名字。如今董事会正试图寻找变通办法。
据曾起诉最初将特朗普名字冠名该演艺中心事件的董事会当然成员、民主党众议员乔伊斯·贝蒂透露，董事会周四投票决定在肯尼迪中心标识下方添加铭文，称该综合体“由唐纳德·J·特朗普总统修复翻新”。他们还投票决定将中心周边区域更名为“唐纳德·J·特朗普总统广场”。
（董事会还试图再次关闭中心进行翻新，此前这一尝试同样遭到驳回。）
目前尚不清楚这些举动能否通过法律审查。
此前裁定政府败诉的联邦法官表示，联邦法律“明确无误”地表明，该中心“不得仅凭董事会单方面决定，冠以任何其他正式名称或设立公共纪念设施”。
正如美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的孙伦·瑟法蒂所指出的，法律允许“在北或南画廊、各州大厅或各国大厅的大理石墙壁上镌刻文字，以表彰重大贡献”。
但即便最终证明此举合法，也不代表它在政治上是明智的。而这恰恰印证了本届政府当前的政治渎职行为。
不妨全面审视当前事态：距离2026年选举仅剩81天，共和党本就处境艰难，而本届政府却正努力将一位现任、支持率创下新低的在任总统的名字，第二次刻在这座知名文化机构之上。至关重要的是，就在绝大多数美国人表示此类行为已过火、特朗普及其政府关注点错位、他过于沉迷个人私利之际，他们仍执意为之。
这仿佛是政府在刻意强化这些负面印象。
上个月的CNN民调显示，59%的美国人认为特朗普在“更改肯尼迪中心与史密森尼学会等文化机构名称”一事上“做得太过火”。
就连32%的共和党人与倾向共和党的无党派人士——也就是特朗普的基本盘——都表示他在这一问题上“做得太过火”。
此外，皮尤研究中心4月的民调显示，仅有9%的美国人认为在特朗普仍在任期间以其名字命名政府建筑是可以接受的。（事实上，为现任总统这样做几乎闻所未闻。）
约八倍于此的受访者表示，要么完全不应在特朗普任期内以其名字命名政府建筑（50%），要么可以接受，但必须等到特朗普任期结束之后（21%）。
仅有17%的共和党人认为，在特朗普任期内将其名字刻在政府建筑上是可以接受的，而如今他正再次尝试这么做。
那么问题来了：或许选民其实并不在意此事？或许肯尼迪中心对部分选民而言，并不像对阅读这篇分析文章的你我这般重要？或许人们认为此举荒唐又不妥，但等特朗普卸任后，他的名字自然会被移除？
不无可能。但这一情况也有可能强化针对特朗普与共和党而言令人不安的选举叙事：这位总统过于关注自身，而非选民真正关心的事务。
哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻的民调显示，近八成美国人认为特朗普政府“完全没有”致力于降低物价。
前述CNN民调显示，73%的受访者认为特朗普“并未对国家最重要的问题给予足够关注”。这一数字在特朗普第二任期内已稳步上升约20个百分点。
那么美国人认为特朗普真正关注的是什么？答案是他自己。
CNN民调还显示，66%的美国人认为特朗普并未将国家利益置于个人私利之上；76%的无党派人士以及30%的共和党人和倾向共和党的无党派人士认同这一观点。
在选举临近之际，将精力放在肯尼迪中心——以及同样颇不受欢迎的私人舞厅这类项目上——显然充分证明，特朗普的 priorities 仍存在严重错位。
美国人或许不像关注伊朗战争及其导致的高油价那般在意特朗普的个人项目。而这些议题无疑仍是特朗普与共和党面临的更大负担，尤其是如果总统无法在11月3日前结束战争的话。
但他执着于将自己的名字刻在各处，而非致力于降低物价，同样助长了这一负面叙事。
本文已更新补充更多信息。
Trump’s Kennedy Center and ballroom fixations are political malpractice for the GOP
2026-08-14T16:48:49.939Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/14/politics/trump-kennedy-center-ballroom
Republicans are facing a potentially ugly 2026 midterm election in less than three months. And nobody seems to be able — or perhaps even cares to try — to prevail upon President Donald Trump to mitigate the damage.
Two recent developments are a case in point.
On Friday, Trump appealed to the Supreme Court to be able to continue building his coveted ballroom — which Americans already don’t like. And the day before, the president and his handpicked board at the Kennedy Center tried to put Trump’s name on the building – again.
Both moves suggest Trump remains preoccupied with his self-gratification and glorification, even though it’s increasingly likely to come at the expense of his party.
After a federal judge rejected the previous attempt to rebrand the center as the “Trump Kennedy Center” — forcing the administration to remove Trump’s name from the building’s façade — the board is now attempting a workaround.
It voted Thursday to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center’s sign that says the complex was “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” It also voted to rename the area around the center the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza,” according to Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio trustee of the board who sued over the initial attempt to add Trump’s name to the performing arts center.
(The board is also attempting to close the center for renovations again, after their previous effort was also rejected.)
It remains to be seen whether the moves will pass legal muster.
The federal judge who previously ruled against the administration said that federal law “makes crystal clear” that the center “cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.”
As CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty notes, the law allows an “inscription on the marble walls in the north or south galleries, the Hall of States, or the Hall of Nations acknowledging a major contribution.”
But even if it turns out this is legal, that doesn’t make it politically wise. And it epitomizes the political malpractice coming from the administration right now.
Just consider the full scope of what’s happening: With just 81 days until a 2026 election in which Republicans seem to be in trouble, the administration is working to slap the name of a living, incumbent president with record-low approval numbers on a prominent cultural institution — for the second time. And crucially, it’s doing so even as Americans overwhelmingly say such efforts have gone too far, that Trump and his administration are focused on the wrong things and that he is too preoccupied with his personal gain.
It’s as if the administration is trying to cement those ill perceptions.
A CNN poll last month found that 59% of Americans said Trump had “gone too far” in “making changes to cultural institutions such as the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian.”
Even 32% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents — i.e. Trump’s base — said he had “gone too far” on this.
Also, a Pew Research Center poll in April found just 9% of Americans said it was acceptable to name government buildings after Trump while he is still in office. (Indeed, it’s virtually unheard-of to do this for an incumbent president.)
About eight times as many said either that it was not acceptable to name government buildings after Trump at all (50%), or that it would be acceptable but only after Trump’s presidency is over (21%).
And only 17% of Republicans said it was acceptable to put Trump’s name on government buildings during his presidency, as he’s now attempting to do yet again.
Which brings us to the “but.” Maybe voters don’t really care that much? Maybe the Kennedy Center isn’t as important to some of them as it might be to you (the person who chose to read this analysis about it)? Maybe people think this is silly and bad, but that Trump’s name will just be pulled off when he’s no longer president?
Possibly. But the situation also risks reinforcing a troubling election narrative for Trump and the GOP, which is that the president is way too focused on himself and not the things that are important to voters.
CBS News polling has shown nearly 8 in 10 Americans said the Trump administration has focused “not enough” on lowering prices.
And the CNN poll mentioned above showed 73% said Trump “hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems.” That number has steadily risen about 20 points over the course of Trump’s second term.
What do Americans think he is focused on, then? Well, himself.
The CNN poll also showed 66% of Americans said Trump did not put the good of the country above his own personal gain; 76% of independents and 30% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents subscribed to this view.
Focusing on the Kennedy Center — and things like the ballroom, which also appears quite unpopular — in the run-up to the election would seem to be solid evidence that Trump’s priorities remain misplaced.
Americans might not care about Trump’s pet projects as much as, say, the Iran war and the high gas prices it has caused. And those issues surely remain much bigger liabilities for Trump and the GOP, particularly if the president can’t end the war by November 3.
But his obsession with slapping his name on things instead of lowering prices contributes to that narrative, too.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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