Toby Morton, a former writer for South Park, predicted that Donald Trump would change the name of the Kennedy Center and got key domains months ahead of time.
After Trump fired the Kennedy Center board and named himself chairman, Toby Morton bought trumpkennedycenter.org and trumpkennedycenter.com in August 2025. In late December, the board unanimously changed the name to “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” This foresight paid off. Morton told the Washington Post that the move changed a cultural icon into “personal branding,” which made satire unavoidable.
In February, Trump fired the original board and put in MAGA supporters. He then became chairman when he took office in 2025. He was the first sitting president to host the Kennedy Center Honors in 2025. He honored Sylvester Stallone, KISS, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. Critics say the new name is against federal law and makes the arts political.
Morton, who is known for South Park and MadTV, wants to make content on the domains that shows how “absurd” they are, but he hasn’t heard from Trump yet. He thinks of the center as a place where culture lives on, not ego.
