A federal judge ordered the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center and blocked a planned two-year closure for renovations on May 29, 2026. Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the Center’s charter requires it to retain President Kennedy’s name and that only Congress can approve a name change. He set a 14-day deadline to remove all Trump-related signage from the building [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
The Kennedy Center board renamed the facility the Trump-Kennedy Center in December 2025 after Trump, who became board chairman in January 2025, installed allies, and began pushing for extensive renovations. The renaming sparked strong opposition from Democrats and Kennedy family members, with a December poll finding 66% of Americans opposed the change and only 18% supporting it [9, 10, 1, 2, 7, 11, 8].
Ohio Democratic Congressman Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member, filed a lawsuit in December 2025 challenging the legality of the board’s unilateral renaming and the planned closure. She said, “Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. We cannot allow President Trump and his allies to bypass federal law and Congress to satisfy his personal ego” [9, 10, 1, 7, 11, 8].
Trump announced the closure plan for July 4, 2026, lasting about two years for renovations. He claimed on social media to have been chairman since January 2025 and criticized Judge Cooper’s ruling as biased, threatening the center would “soon close and may never reopen” [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11].
Kennedy Center Executive Director Charles Matthew Floca warned that removing Trump’s name would cause “irreparable financial harm,” cutting a crucial fundraising link. Trump had pledged to raise $15 billion over two years for the Center’s growth, and Floca said losing the Trump name would severely undermine ongoing arts programs reliant on trust funds [9, 10, 11]. However, Judge Cooper’s decision did not accept financial concerns as justification to override the legal naming statutes [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7].
The Center remains open as of May 31, 2026. Closure was scheduled for July 4 but is now blocked by the court. Beatty expressed hope for resuming normal operations, saying, “Now we hope everyone can return to work and we can continue to be the Kennedy Center we are meant to be” [9, 10, 4, 7, 11].
The court’s ruling enforces the Center’s charter and congressional authority over its name and operations. The next key deadline is the 14-day period to remove Trump branding from the building, reinforcing the Center’s original designation as a memorial to President Kennedy.
