The Kennedy Center must remove President Donald Trump’s name from the building after the board, made up of members handpicked by the president, unanimously approved the change last year, a judge ruled on Friday.
In a pair of rulings ahead of the weekend, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper granted a request to temporarily pause plans to close the performing arts center amid major renovations and ordered Kennedy Center officials to remove Trump’s name within the next two weeks. The judge ruled the name change violated federal law that says the center must be named to honor “President Kennedy and President Kennedy alone.”
“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,” the decision states.
The Justice Department has previously argued that adding Trump’s name to the center was legal because it is only an informal nickname — but that argument has been blurred after officials had the president’s name added to the building’s facade late last year. In his ruling on Friday, Cooper said the administration’s “convenient reframing is too cute by half — and belied by the record.”
Cooper cited comments from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last year in which she said the board formally “voted” to “rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center.”
“The joint name has since been featured on the Center’s official website, email communications, letterhead, and logo,” Cooper wrote. “The Center even filed a trademark application with the institution’s new name and logo. These official changes reflect far more than an innocuous nicknaming.”
Furthermore, the judge noted, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Congress has not held a vote on the matter.
In response, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he has instructed the Department of Commerce to “make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management.”
Judge says Kennedy Center can’t close
The ruling also delays plans announced earlier this year to close the center for two years to complete renovations, ruling that timeframe would cause “several irreparable harms.” However, Cooper said certain repairs could proceed.
A full closure of the center may be lawful in the future, he ruled, if the Kennedy Center board receives a more thorough briefing.
The ruling comes after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit last year arguing the plans were moving forward illegally because she was not allowed to weigh in as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board.
Beatty said she logged on to a virtual meeting in December 2025 when she learned the board would vote on adding Trump’s name to the building despite not being on the official meeting agenda, the legal decision states. Beatty tried to vote in opposition “but found herself involuntarily muted.”
