WASHINGTON, D.C.: The iconic Kennedy Center was renamed the Trump Kennedy Center by a handpicked board of President Donald Trump on December 18.

Democrats, however, fumed, claiming the board had overstepped its legal authority.

Congress had named the center after President John F. Kennedy in 1964, after his assassination. Donald A. Ritchie, who served as Senate historian from 2009 to 2015, said that because Congress had first named the center, only Congress could "amend the law."

Trump and others could "informally" refer to the center by a different name, but they couldn't do it in a way "that would (legally) stick," Ritche added.

However, the board did not even wait for that debate to play out, and promptly changed the branding on its website to reflect the new name.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that legislative action was needed, "and we're going to make that clear." The New York Democrat is an ex officio member of the board because of his position in Congress.

"The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts," said Roma Daravi, the institution's vice president for public relations.

She said the vote recognized that Trump saved the center from "financial ruin and physical destruction." The venue's ousted leadership denied both these claims.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, stating Trump had done "unbelievable work" on the center since he returned to office in January.

Trump said he was "surprised" and "honored" by the vote.

"The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it, and I was honored by it," he said.

Trump had already started referring to the venue as the "Trump Kennedy Center." Asked on December 7 during a Kennedy Center Honors event whether he would rename it after himself, he said that was up to the board.

Some members of the Kennedy family have voiced their angst on social media about the name change. Maria Shriver, a niece of John F. Kennedy, said it was "beyond comprehension" that Trump would seek to add his name to a memorial honoring her uncle, and "beyond wild" that he would consider it acceptable. "It is not," she wrote in a social media post.

Shriver noted that Kennedy brought the arts into the White House and questioned whether Trump might also try to rename John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York or other presidential memorials in Washington after himself. Her brother, Tim Shriver, called the move an "insult to a great president."

Trump showed little interest in the Kennedy Center during his first term. Since returning to office in January, however, he has replaced board members appointed by Democratic presidents with close supporters, who then elected him as board chairman.

He has criticized the center's past programming and its current appearance, vowing to overhaul both. Trump has also secured more than US$250 million from the Republican-controlled Congress for renovations, including new paint, new theater seating, and other upgrades.