A federal judge in Washington D.C. has delivered a landmark ruling that blocks the controversial addition of former President Donald Trump’s name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ordering the immediate removal of all branding bearing his name within 14 days and halting plans for a two-year closure tied to proposed renovations.
District Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of the Obama administration, laid out a clear legal precedent in his 94-page opinion: Congress established the iconic cultural venue’s original name in 1971, and only the legislative branch holds the authority to alter it. The ruling states that unilateral action by the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to rebrand the institution violates the center’s founding organic statute, which explicitly reserves naming rights to Congress. The venue was originally opened in 1971 as a permanent memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy, and the ruling requires its name to revert fully to its original title: the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The chain of events that led to the lawsuit began in early 2025, when Trump replaced multiple sitting trustees on the center’s board, secured an appointment as a trustee himself, and was subsequently voted in as the board’s chairman. By December of that year, the newly reconfigured board voted to rename the venue the “Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” and new lettering bearing Trump’s full name was installed on the center’s front portico within 24 hours of the vote.
The rebranding sparked immediate backlash across the arts and political communities: dozens of scheduled performing artists canceled their upcoming engagements at the venue, and ticket sales dropped sharply in the months following the name change. In February 2026, the board announced a two-year full closure of the center starting on July 4, 2026, framing the renovation project as a tribute to the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. The project was to be funded with $257 million in congressional funding secured during Trump’s administration.
The legal challenge was brought by ousted board member Joyce Beatty, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio, alongside other former trustees, who argued that their voting rights had been unlawfully stripped when Trump replaced sitting board members. The lawsuit was later amended to also challenge the proposed closure and renovation timeline.
Following Friday’s ruling, Beatty celebrated the decision as a victory for the rule of law and public trust. “The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump,” she said in an official statement. “He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”
Officials with the Kennedy Center have pushed back against the ruling, announcing plans to immediately appeal the order requiring Trump’s name removal. Roma Daravi, a spokesperson for the center, told CBS News that the board remains confident its actions will be upheld on appeal, noting that the board acted in good faith to recognize what it calls Trump’s historic contributions to the national cultural institution. Daravi also added that the center still faces an urgent need for major renovations, a fact the plaintiff has already acknowledged, and that the $257 million in congressionally approved funding is already in place to complete the work. The center will also review the judge’s ruling on the proposed closure and continue to pursue all legal avenues to advance the restoration project, Daravi added.