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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts should remove Donald Trump’s name from the building.
A ruling by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper on Friday ended the “illegal effort” to rename the institution the Trump Kennedy Center. Under the order, all signs bearing the name “Trump Kennedy Center” must be removed within 14 days.
“Congress named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after President John F. Kennedy by federal law, and the Center may not be officially named for any other person except by act of Congress,” the ruling states.
The ruling also temporarily halts the center’s scheduled July 5 closure for two years of renovation work.
This follows a lawsuit filed by Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. She initially filed the lawsuit after the board, chosen by Trump himself, voted to rename the center in December 2025 and amended her lawsuit to include the closure, which was announced in February 2025.
“Today’s ruling rightly confirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the center have no legal basis,” Congresswoman Beatty said. “The Kennedy Center is an institution owned by the American people, not Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred monument for the sake of his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”
Beatty’s lawsuit came after she was banned from attending board meetings and voting, specifically when board members voted to rename the center to the Trump-Kennedy Center in December. She was able to attend the center’s meeting on March 16, but was unable to vote.
At that meeting, the board moved to vote to close the center for two years, effective July 7, due to what Trump called necessary renovations. However, the planned closure also comes after a number of artists pulled their concerts and programs from the center, in protest against Trump appointing himself president and appointing new board members. This made the upcoming programming schedule unclear.
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