Also known as: Dana Kraft. The Kennedy Center’s current official trustee roster and the Beatty v. Trump federal docket both list this subject under her married name, “Dana Kraft.” Her original February 2025 White House appointment record and most 2025 press coverage used her maiden/professional name, “Dana Blumberg.” Both names refer to the same individual — see Sources 4–5 below.

Category: Kennedy Center Trustee
Appointed: Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, February 12, 2025
Priority: P1 (Anchor B only, narrowly and contestably met; no individual vote or statement documented; no criminal conviction — private-citizen proportionality cap applies)

Basis for Inclusion

Basis for Inclusion Subject classification: Private Citizen Non-Speech Anchor met: Anchor B (Documented Organizational Leadership or Command) — narrowly and contestably. Dana Blumberg/Kraft holds a voting trustee (director-level) seat on the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees. On December 18, 2025, the board approved a resolution renaming the institution; a federal court later declared that resolution “null, void, and without legal effect” (Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C. No. 1:25-cv-04480, partial summary judgment, May 29–30, 2026), and separately found the board’s exclusion of ex officio members from voting to be a statutory violation. Her director-level seat on a board whose collective governance action was judicially voided is the anchor; this is a looser fit for Anchor B than its paradigm cases (e.g., a chapter leader of a criminally indicted organization), because the board’s conduct was voided on statutory grounds rather than criminal ones, and because no source individually confirms how — or whether — she personally voted. Evidence basis: White House appointment record (The American Presidency Project, Feb. 2025); Kennedy Center press statement, Feb. 12, 2025; current Kennedy Center trustee roster (kennedy-center.org, extracted 2026-09-18); Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., Case No. 1:25-cv-04480, filed Dec. 22, 2025, partial summary judgment May 29–30, 2026 (naming “Dana Kraft” as an individual defendant and voiding the renaming resolution). What is NOT the basis for inclusion: This individual’s political positions, personal opinions, social media activity, and her marriage to Robert Kraft are NOT the basis for inclusion. No personal public statement, interview, or press conference by this subject was found in any source reviewed. The characterization of the December 18, 2025 vote as “unanimous” originates with the White House; fellow trustee Rep. Joyce Beatty has publicly disputed that characterization, stating she was muted during the meeting. No source individually confirms this subject’s personal vote or statement on the renaming resolution — her documented connection to that specific board action is her trustee seat and her status as a named defendant in the resulting litigation, not an individually attributed act or statement. Protected speech documented in this profile: [B] This profile documents actions only — an appointment, a board seat, and litigation-naming status. No speech or statements by this subject are included.

Background

Dr. Dana Blumberg is a board-certified ophthalmologist. She graduated from Brown University and received her M.D. from Saint Louis University School of Medicine (2000). She specialized in glaucoma treatment, served as associate professor at Columbia University, and was recognized as one of New York Magazine’s Top Doctors in 2021 and 2022. Her NIH-funded research focused on early detection of glaucoma-related diseases.

In October 2022, she married Robert Kraft — the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots — in a surprise ceremony in New York City featuring performances by Elton John and Ed Sheeran.

Robert Kraft’s relationship with Trump: Kraft is a longtime personal friend of Trump and has supported his campaigns. The Kraft-Trump relationship predates Trump’s political career by decades, centered on their Palm Beach social circle and mutual business connections.

Documented Actions

1. Kennedy Center Appointment

Dana Blumberg was named to the Kennedy Center board on February 12, 2025, as part of the 14-member Trump slate. The Boston Globe explicitly noted the Kraft-Trump friendship as the context for the appointment.

Irony: Robert Kraft is a significant donor to the arts, sits on the board of Harlem’s Apollo Theater, and has hosted celebrity concerts. The Kennedy Center appointment through a political purge — rather than normal philanthropic engagement — represents a transactional path to board membership that would otherwise be the province of major arts donors and arts-engaged philanthropists.

2. December 2025 Renaming Vote — Resolution Later Voided by Federal Court

Dana Blumberg was a sitting trustee on December 18, 2025, when the Kennedy Center board approved a resolution to rename the institution. The White House described the vote as unanimous; fellow trustee Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) has publicly disputed that characterization, stating she was repeatedly muted during the virtual meeting and prevented from registering an objection. No source reviewed for this profile individually confirms this subject’s personal vote or statement on the resolution. A federal court declared the renaming resolution null, void, and without legal effect, and separately found the board’s exclusion of ex officio (congressional) members from voting to be a statutory violation.

SourceUSA Today Network (Columbus Dispatch / Cincinnati.com / cleveland.com), “Trump-Kennedy Center vote not unanimous, Rep. Joyce Beatty says,” updated December 19, 2025.Court record: Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C. No. 1:25-cv-04480, partial summary judgment, May 29–30, 2026.

3. Named Individual Defendant, Beatty v. Trump (December 2025)

“DANA KRAFT” — this subject, under her married name — is listed as a named individual defendant, alongside the full slate of Kennedy Center trustees, in Beatty v. Trump, filed December 22, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:25-cv-04480, Judge Christopher R. Cooper) — the same case, and the same docket, that produced the May 2026 ruling described above. Being named as a defendant among sitting board members in their official capacity is not, on its own, evidence of individually attributed conduct — see the Basis for Inclusion block above.

Court record: Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., Case No. 1:25-cv-04480, filed December 22, 2025.

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Investigative trail pointers (public records)

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Sources

1. Boston Globe, “Robert Kraft’s wife, Dana Blumberg, made Kennedy Center board member,” February 13, 2025.
2. My Histro, “Dana Blumberg: From Medical Star to Power Player at the Kennedy Center,” 2025.
3. Kennedy Center press release, February 12, 2025.
4. The American Presidency Project (presidency.ucsb.edu), “White House Press Release: President Trump Announces Appointments to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” February 2025 (names the appointee “Dana Blumberg, of New York… for the remainder of the term expiring September 1, 2030, vice Carlos E. Elizondo”) — original appointment record supporting the alias resolution in this profile.
5. Kennedy Center, official Board of Trustees roster, https://www.kennedy-center.org/about-us/leadership/trustees, extracted 2026-09-18 (lists “Dana Kraft” under Members Appointed by the President of the United States — current-name source supporting the alias resolution in this profile).
6. U.S. District Court, D.D.C., Beatty v. Trump, Case No. 1:25-cv-04480, filed December 22, 2025, Judge Christopher R. Cooper, partial summary judgment May 29–30, 2026 (naming “Dana Kraft” as an individual defendant and voiding the December 2025 renaming resolution).
7. USA Today Network (also published as Columbus Dispatch / Cincinnati.com / cleveland.com / thisweeknews.com / newsherald.com), “Trump-Kennedy Center vote not unanimous, Rep. Joyce Beatty says,” updated December 19, 2025, 2:59 p.m. ET.

Last Updated: September 18, 2026