Trump denies report he wants his name on Ford's Theatre, site of Lincoln's assassination

Donald Trump has denied a report that his administration is considering adding his name to Ford’s Theatre, the Washington venue where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, calling it a “ridiculous lie” and “FAKE NEWS”.

The claim came from an MS NOW report published on Tuesday, which said administration officials were circulating a list of government sites that could carry the president’s name, citing anonymous sources. One official told the outlet the Ford’s Theatre idea had been discussed but they did not know where it stood, and that the prospect had prompted discussion among people responsible for the historic site over the past week.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle rejected the report. “This story is completely false,” he said in a statement, accusing MS NOW of pushing “false and baseless claims from anonymous sources”. The Interior Department, which owns the theatre, also told The Washington Sun the report “is not true”.

“Who would possibly want a name on such a tragic place?” Trump said on Wednesday.

Ford’s Theatre first opened as a Baptist church in 1834 before becoming a performance venue in the 1860s, and is now maintained by the National Park Service as a working theatre and museum.

MS NOW is among the outlets the administration has targeted with a White House ban for reporting what Trump called “fake news”, alongside Politico and CNN. The denial follows a broader push to attach Trump’s name to landmarks including the Kennedy Center, Dulles International Airport and the new Commanders’ stadium in southeast Washington DC.

Sources

• The Washington Sun, “White House Denies a Report that Trump Wants to Put His Name on Ford’s Theatre”, 24 Sept 2026: https://www.washingtonsun.com/metro/white-house-denies-trump-wants-name-fords-theatre
• MS NOW report on administration naming discussions, 23 Sept 2026 (via readdork)