Donald Trump’s name was removed from the Kennedy Center’s official identity Friday after a federal judge refused to give the arts institution more time to keep it up.
The removal followed a court-ordered deadline requiring the D.C. venue to strip Trump’s name from its building, website, signage, brochures, email signatures, letterhead, and other official materials. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper denied the Kennedy Center’s last-minute request to pause the order Friday, while workers were seen setting up scaffolding outside the building near the section where Trump’s name had been added. The center had already dropped Trump’s name from its website and official communications earlier in the week.
The reversal comes after months of drama over who actually has the power to rename one of Washington’s most recognizable cultural institutions. The Kennedy Center board voted in December 2025 to rebrand the venue as “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” and the new exterior signage went up shortly after. But the move immediately triggered legal pushback because the center was created by Congress as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member, sued after saying she was blocked from speaking during the board meeting where the name change was approved. At the time, Beatty said, “Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. President Trump and his cronies must not be allowed to trample federal law and bypass Congress to feed his ego.”
Judge Cooper agreed with the core argument. In his May 29 ruling, he said the board overstepped by adding Trump’s name without congressional approval. His opinion made the point plainly: “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.” He added, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
The ruling did more than order the name removal. Cooper also blocked a planned two-year closure for Trump-backed renovations, while allowing necessary repair work to continue. NBC Washington reported that Cooper said those repairs were “sorely needed.” (PBS)
Still, Friday’s removal does not end the fight. Reuters reported that the Justice Department has appealed Cooper’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Trump also posted that he wanted to transfer the center back to Congress, writing, “I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight.”
For now, the sign is the symbol. Trump’s name came down, but the bigger fight over power, legacy, and who controls public institutions is still playing out in court.
