The move by the board of trustees the Kennedy Center to add President Donald Trump‘s name to the D.C. cultural institution was illegal, a federal judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered Kennedy Center officials to remove Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. In a related ruling, Cooper granted a request by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) for a preliminary injunction to block Trump — for now — from taking any further steps toward closing the institution. Trump earlier this year had said the Kennedy Center would shut down for two years starting July 4, 2026, to undergo a “complete rebuilding.”
“The Court has concluded that the Board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump,” Cooper wrote in his May 29 ruling on Beatty’s motion. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Because the Kennedy Center board is “currently in violation of Congress’s express statutory direction, the Court will order that they remove President Trump’s name from the institution’s title, as represented on the façade of the Center, any other physical or digital signage, and official materials,” the judge said in the ruling.
In a statement, Roma Daravi, VP of public relations for the center, said, “We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”
Regarding the ruling that halts Trump’s renovation plans for the Kennedy Center, Daravi said, “We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration – a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges. With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Legal experts have previously said the renaming of the center is illegal, because a 1964 federal law established its name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” after the slain president and explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from adding any other name to the building’s exterior. In December, Beatty sued Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board seeking to force the removal of Trump’s name from the organization.
After his election to a second term as U.S. president, Trump ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous Democratic board members and management team and installed himself as chairman. In December, the White House said the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees (who were selected by Trump) voted unanimously to rename the facility the “Trump Kennedy Center.”
The purported full new name is “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Workers affixed Trump’s name to the building’s exterior on Dec. 19, a day after the White House announced the change.
After the Kennedy Center’s name change to add Trump, multiple artists canceled engagements at the famed arts center. Those have included Philip Glass, Renée Fleming, “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz, Béla Fleck and a production of “Hamilton.”
Source: variety.com
