A woman walks past the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as its sign remains covered with a tarp on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Washington. (Rahmat Gul\/The Associated Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPerformers still expected to appear include Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice \u2014 the only remaining acts of the nine initially scheduled to perform.<\/p>\n
Trump then suggested the original concept of the event should be cancelled after “overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear” pulled out. Next, he said he would headline a kickoff rally on June 24 \u200bon the \u2060National Mall instead, calling himself the “Number One Attraction anywhere in the World.” <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, America 250 is also moving ahead with its own celebrations \u2014 including the America’s Block Party concert on July 4, featuring performers the Smashing Pumpkins, Queen Latifah and Chris Stapleton.<\/p>\n
The grand opening of Obama’s centre comes less than a week after the deadline a federal court gave to the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from that building’s facade. The centre’s officials said earlier this week Trump’s name has been removed, though it’s currently still obscured by a tarp.<\/p>\n
Named after the late Democrat president John F. Kennedy, Trump moved quickly to oust the institution’s leadership in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. His name was added to the building soon after.<\/p>\n
Competing for presidential spotlight<\/h2>\n Speaking to CBC News, University College Cork lecturer on American history and politics Clodagh Harrington said the separate events and centres speak to a potential competition for the spotlight.<\/p>\n
While the number or star power of those appearing at Obama or Trump’s events aren’t necessarily of grand importance, she said that they do speak to the Obamas’ respected global brand and “very high cultural legitimacy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
That legitimacy is something that couldn’t necessarily be said about the Trumps \u2014 “and I’m not sure that that is going to change,” she added.<\/p>\n
“I think Donald Trump has been staggeringly impactful \u2014 not least in his second term \u2014 but they don’t have that particular type of legitimacy that the Obamas do,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It has always been quite effortless with the Obamas, and maybe that’s something that Donald Trump finds difficult to accept.”<\/p>\n
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\nA worker tends to the garden at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, on May 28, 2026. (Paul Beaty\/The Associated Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nObama officials have nonetheless faced criticism for the centre’s size and aesthetic. “The building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters,” wrote The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright.<\/p>\n
It was also critiqued for the decision not to have a National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facility on site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As many as 1 million people are expected to visit the center’s 20-acre campus each year, with highlights including a public library branch, an NBA-grade basketball court, a fruit and vegetable garden and a playground. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n