Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, Andrea Mitchell dives into the latest in the Kennedy Center saga. Plus, we examine new Republican defectors on the House’s Iran war vote.
— Adam Wollner
What’s in a name? At the Kennedy Center, a multimillion-dollar fight
Analysis by Andrea Mitchell
As a private businessman, Donald Trump became known as an expert at branding — specifically, by putting his name on everything from buildings to steaks.
His hugely expanded power as president has given him even more opportunities: an airport, the U.S. Institute for Peace, savings accounts for children and U.S. currency, to name a few. Now, his branding efforts are at the center of a fierce legal battle over a hallowed memorial to a slain president.
During a pivotal meeting of the new Trump-dominated Kennedy Center board yesterday, Trump got into a shouting match with Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, a holdover ex officio member of the board. According to multiple people listening to the virtual meeting who described it to NBC News, Trump called Beatty incompetent and destructive, while she called him unprofessional. The board ultimately voted to close the center for renovations.
Trump has erupted online with angry posts several times over recent months since a federal court issued a preliminary injunction for now that rejects his bid to add his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ marble facade. The White House obeyed the order to take the name down but covered the altered signage with a tarp so it cannot be seen.
The symbolism has legal significance. Unlike other monuments and buildings Trump has changed in the past year and a half, the Kennedy Center was created by an act of Congress in 1964 as the sole memorial to the assassinated president in the nation’s capital. As such, it is comparable to the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. Opponents argue the name can be changed only by an act of Congress, not by a presidential executive order.
Trump’s handpicked board replaced the former board and named Trump as chairman. Trump fired the former chairman, private equity billionaire and philanthropist David Rubenstein, who had donated $120 million of his own money to the arts center.
Critics say Trump’s takeover cratered the center’s programming, costing it millions in ticket sales. The White House argues that the programming was “woke” and that the center was dilapidated and had been poorly run for years. Both sides agree the center needs renovations, but the former board members argue that has been done in the past without closing the entire building.
While lawyers fight it out, Trump pledged $17 million of his own money toward the renovations — but only if his name is added back to the facade. In a Truth Social post calling for an expedited appeal, Trump wrote, “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”
Typically, the center hosted as many as 3,000 performances a year. Threatened with closure, the Washington Opera moved in January to a nearby university stage. The National Symphony Orchestra, the center’s principal tenant since 1971, delayed choosing other venues for months while the legal slugfest continued.
Finally, in August, after having lost season subscriptions and needing revenue, the NSO found six smaller concert halls in Washington, Virginia and Maryland for the coming season. Dance and jazz programming has been canceled. And the board has announced that signature events, including the annual Kennedy Center Honors and the Mark Twain Prize, will be held in alternative locations.
Owen Hayes contributed.
New GOP cracks emerge over the Iran war as midterms loom
By Adam Wollner
For the third time, the GOP-led House last night approved a war powers resolution that would prohibit President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran without congressional approval.
And this time, three new Republicans voted for it: Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn of Iowa.
After she lost her primary for governor, Mace is on her way out of Congress. But Miller-Meeks and Nunn are running for re-election in battleground districts with control of the House up for grabs. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates both their races as “toss ups.”Miller-Meeks, who served in the Army for 24 years, and Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, both said they wouldn’t support an “open-ended war.”
“The President needs to present a plan to Congress and the American people for how this ends so we can focus on bringing our soldiers home and lowering prices,” Miller-Meeks said on X.
Nunn noted that two service members from Iowa have died as a result of the war. “Congress owes them, their families, and every American in uniform clear objectives and constitutional oversight,” Nunn wrote. “With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization.”
Notably, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigned with Nunn in Iowa last month.
The war powers resolution is nonbinding, meaning it’s largely symbolic. But seven House Republicans’ now supporting the measure underscores the political pressure the party is under with the midterms quickly approaching. A national Marquette University Law School poll found that 26% of adults approve of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, a new low in the survey, while Democrats opened up an 8-point lead on the generic congressional ballot among registered voters.
Eyeing the exit: Last night’s vote appears it will be the last one on the Iran war before the midterms. The House is set to leave Washington tonight until Nov. 9 after GOP leaders said they were canceling votes set for tomorrow, Scott Wong and Kyle Stewart report. (The Senate will remain in session for the next three weeks.)
The change in schedule means the House won’t vote on a resolution from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. — a lead proponent of the war powers measures — to impeach Hegseth until after Election Day. Hegseth had campaigned this year for Massie’s primary opponent, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said, “It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people, to go and explain all the great things we’ve done.”
🗞️ Today's other top stories
- 🛣️ On the trail: Michigan will provide progressives with their best chance to prove they can win battleground races, with Abdul El-Sayed running for the Senate and William Lawrence for a House seat. Republicans are hurrying to make them villains inside and outside the state, Allan Smith reports. Read more →
- 🏦 Fed watch: The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates for the first time since 2023, defying Trump’s calls for a cut. Read more →
- 💲 DOGE bites man: The Trump administration spent an estimated $9.5 billion last year on paid administrative leave for federal workers, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. Read more →
- 🗺️ Redistricting roundup: Election officials in Missouri are rushing to prepare ballots after a chaotic series of court rulings resulted in a Republican-drawn congressional map’s being blocked from going into effect. Read more →
- 🤖 New frontiers: A Democratic-aligned group is recruiting AI researchers to run for office in 2028 in hope of advancing meaningful regulation. Read more →
- 📝 Epstein saga: The House voted unanimously to find billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to a congressional probe into Jeffrey Epstein. Read more →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Lauren Zola.
If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
And if you’re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.
