AI video depicts Washington arts center removing Trump's name
- Published on June 1, 2026 at 22:07
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
A US judge ruled May 29 that the famed Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had been illegally renamed after Donald Trump and that his name would need to be removed from the facade. But a video spread online that depicts workers tearing down the letters is a fake seemingly generated by artificial intelligence; an AFP journalist visited the Washington cultural center June 1 and confirmed the president's name had not been pried off its exterior.
"The pushback has begun. Judge rules Trump's name must be removed from Kennedy Center," says a May 30, 2026 post on Instagram.
The short video -- which also spread across Facebook, Threads and TikTok -- appears to show workers ripping the words "Donald J. Trump" from the front of the performing arts center, designated as a living memorial to assassinated president John F. Kennedy.
After returning to the White House in 2025, Trump purged the center's governing board, installed himself as chairman and stacked the body with loyalists who then voted to rename the facility the "Trump-Kennedy Center." His name was soon affixed to the facade in large letters above that of Kennedy.
The takeover, which triggered outrage from Kennedy family members and canceled performances, is one of several examples of Trump aiming to stamp his name and image on official spaces in a break with American political tradition.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled May 29 that the board had "overstepped its statutory bounds" by unilaterally renaming the center, writing that only Congress has the right to change the name. The court opinion prompted Trump to announce he was turning control of the institution to Congress (archived here).
Cooper gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump's name from the facade and any materials linked to the venue. He also temporarily suspended the president's announced plans to close the center for two years of renovations.
But as of June 1, the letters spelling out "Donald J. Trump" had not been taken down, an AFP journalist in Washington confirmed.
AFP footage captured June 1 shows the letters still in tact (archived here).
The video circulating online, meanwhile, appears to have originated with "Cabra Cabaret," a digital creator who "uses AI images and videos to comment about our wondrous but twisted world," according to their website and account bios on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok (archived here).
The user's post on TikTok includes a disclaimer saying: "Creator labeled as AI-generated."
AFP reached out to the creator for comment, but no response was forthcoming.
Hive Moderation, an AI detection tool, assessed that the clip was "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content." A separate deepfake detector within the InVid-WeVerify toolkit found some evidence of AI-manipulated faces in the video, as well.
AFP also identified several irregularities in the clip indicative of AI, including blurred faces among the onlookers and the sudden shrinking in the size of their crowd.
The text on the building at one point replaces the "o" in "Donald" with an "r." In another instance, it says "eedy" in place of "Kennedy."
Asked May 31 on CNN's "State of the Union" whether Trump's name would be removed within the required timeframe, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it was "the court order" but added, "I'm not sure if that's going to be appealed or not" (archived here).
Roma Daravi, the performing arts center's vice president for public relations, also told CNN the board is "confident that on appeal the court will uphold" the vote to recognize Trump (archived here).
Read more AFP fact-checks about AI here.
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