Donald Trump derides Kennedy family hours after death of JFK granddaughter – National
Scholossberg, 35, died after being diagnosed with leukemia last year. The daughter of Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and Edwin Schlossberg, she revealed she had terminal cancer in a November essay in the New Yorker.
A family statement disclosing her death was posted on social media Tuesday by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
Maria Shriver, a niece of John F. Kennedy and a former award-winning TV journalist, grieved for Schlossberg on social media and called her “the light, the humour, the joy” and a great journalist who “used her words to educate others about the earth and how to save it.”
In a series of social media posts on Tuesday night, Trump shared screenshots of messages supporting the renaming of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which was named after Kennedy in recognition of his love for the arts and his family’s contributions in the field.
Trump did not mention Schlossberg’s death in the posts.
“The Trumps have always been supporters of the arts. The Kennedys are supporters of the Kennedys,” Trump reposted.
“They don’t raise money for it. They never show up. And the only Kennedy who has been there recently is a member of Trump’s cabinet,” another repost noted.
Trump also reposted a message from Lindsey Graham, a U.S. senator for South Carolina, who voiced support for the renaming when it was first announced earlier this month.
Artists have begun cancelling scheduled shows at the Kennedy Center following the addition of Trump’s name to the performing arts institution.
New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin).
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The Cookers, a jazz group performing together for nearly two decades, pulled out of a planned New Year’s Eve concert, titled A Jazz New Year’s Eve. They announced their withdrawal on their website, saying the “decision has come together very quickly” while acknowledging frustration from those who planned to attend.
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“Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us,” the Cookers wrote on their website. “We are not turning away from our audience, and do want to make sure that when we do return to the bandstand, the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it.”
The group didn’t mention the building’s renaming or the Trump administration, but did say that their “hope is that this moment will leave space for reflection, not resentment.”
Kristy Lee, who was scheduled to perform on Jan. 14, 2026, announced her cancellation on Instagram, writing, “I don’t have much power, and I don’t run with the big dogs who do. I’m just a folk singer from Alabama, slinging songs for a living.”
“I believe in the power of truth, and I believe in the power of people. And I’m gonna stand on that side forever,” Lee wrote. “I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck.”
Lee said America “didn’t get built by branding.”
On Dec. 19, Shriver responded to the renaming announcement with a lengthy Instagram message that reiterated her late uncle’s love and dedication to the arts and strongly disapproved of the change, calling it “beyond comprehension.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has affixed his name to prominent Washington buildings, a planned class of navy warships, a visa program for wealthy foreigners, a government-run prescription drug website and federal savings accounts for children.
Former president Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation making the Kennedy Center a memorial to Kennedy in January 1964, two months after he was assassinated, an answer to calls by his family — who also led efforts to build the centre — to dedicate it to him.
— With files from The Associated Press and Global News’ Katie Scott
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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