Did President Trump cut down historic trees at the Kennedy Center? Why you can’t believe everything you read online
By Easton Martin | September 2, 2026
A viral social media claim about the removal of roughly 40 weeping willow trees at the Kennedy Center has caused widespread outrage directed at President Trump. The posts claim these trees were planted following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, portraying their removal as an intentional destruction of Kennedy’s legacy. The historical record tells a substantially different story than social media would have us believe.
The biggest problem with the claim is that the Kennedy Center did not open until 1971, meaning these trees could not have been planted there following Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. The willows were part of the center’s original landscaping, but the trees themselves were not 63-year-old memorials dating from Kennedy’s death.
The trees also had significant maintenance problems before their removal. Kennedy Center officials told a federal court that many of the original-design willows had already been removed because of decay, while other trees had been damaged by storms. The shallow planting beds above concrete decks also created difficult growing conditions, requiring the landscaping to undergo replacement cycles over the decades.
There is certainly a legitimate debate about preserving the Kennedy Center’s historic landscape. The willows were an important part of the building’s original architectural character, and it is reasonable to question whether replacing them with weeping cherry trees is appropriate. However, portraying the situation as President Trump destroying Kennedy’s 1963 memorial trees is simply not supported by the available evidence.
