Trump’s name must be removed from Kennedy Center, judge orders

Federal judge orders Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center

A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s name removed from the Kennedy Center, ruling the rebranding illegal.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ruling that the Trump administration’s renaming of the iconic institution is illegal.

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, in an opinion issued May 29, said the Kennedy Center must remove Trump’s name from the institution’s title within 14 days. This includes removing signage recently installed on the center’s facade and removing Trump’s name from the center’s website and other official materials.

Cooper, appointed by former President Barack Obama, also canceled Trump’s planned two-year shutdown of the Kennedy Center, which was to begin in July to allow for massive renovations to the building.

Read more: The Kennedy Center renamed “Trump-Kennedy Center,” according to the White House

In a 94-page opinion, the judge said the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, made up mostly of Trump loyalists, violated the 1964 federal law that created the center, arguing that the statute makes clear that “the Kennedy Center must be named for and is intended to honor President Kennedy alone.”

Congressional approval would be needed to change the name of the Kennedy Center, the judge said.

Trump says he will transfer control of center to Congress

The ruling — a blow to Trump’s efforts to overhaul the institution to his liking — granted partial summary judgment in a case brought by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy’s Center board who opposed the name change.

“The Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be managed, nor to prescribe any particular plan for the future of the institution (construction, closure, or otherwise). It merely binds the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees to certain minimum requirements imposed by law,” the opinion reads.

Trump blasted the judge’s decision in a lengthy article on Truth Social, promising to respond by working with Congress “to return this failed institution to them so they can decide what to do with it.” Trump said he had directed the Commerce Department to make the transfer to Congress.

“Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself!” » Trump said. “I cannot be involved in a situation where danger to the public can flourish in plain sight. Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring back this institution, physically, financially and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a desperate journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND.’

The center’s board of directors voted in December to rename the Kennedy Center the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” In less than 24 hours, the action was followed by new signage outside the building reading “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

Trump has complained about “woke” programming at the Kennedy Center, promising to bring better shows and musical acts while securing $257 million in federal dollars for renovations that he says are sorely needed.

Read more: Trump’s name quickly added to Kennedy Center facade

Judge says board wasn’t informed enough to close center

By stalling plans to close the Kennedy Center for two years, Cooper called into question the credibility of Executive Director Matt Floca’s conclusion that renovations could not be accomplished without closing the center to the public.

The judge also said the center’s board “had no say” on the issue when it voted to close on March 16. Trump previously announced the shutdown plans on Truth Social on February 1.

“The administrators became aware of the plan to close the Center at the same time as the general public, through publications on social networks,” said the judge. “Deprived of time and information, they had no meaningful opportunity to consider perhaps the most important decision in the life of the Center since its opening in 1971.”

Read more: Trump Kennedy Center to close for two years, Trump says

The Trump administration should appeal the decision

Despite Trump’s pledge to transfer control of the center to Congress, a Kennedy Center spokeswoman said the board plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

“We are confident that on appeal, the court will uphold the Council’s willingness to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center,” Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of operations, said in a statement.

Daravi did not say whether the center would remove Trump’s name from its facade.

As for the judge who blocked the center’s closure for two years, Daravi said the center “will carefully review the decision, although the reality remains: the Center requires urgent and significant restoration.”

A Justice Department spokesperson also announced its intention to appeal. “We will continue to champion President Trump’s ability to restore the Center to its former glory as the best performing arts center in the country, and indeed the world.”

Democrats and members of the Kennedy family praised the judge’s decision, with some pointing out that the decision fell on the late president’s birthday. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917.

“A fitting birthday present for my uncle’s birthday today,” Maria Shriver, a niece of Kennedy, said in an article on

Contact Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

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