Donald Trump’s Name Cannot Be Added to Kennedy Center, Judge Rules Again

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has determined that placing Donald Trump's name on the Kennedy Center runs afoul of federal law. The ruling came Tuesday from Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who was responding to an emergency request aimed at stopping the center's board — stacked with Trump allies — from adding his name to additional sections of the building and its grounds. Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, had already directed the center back in May to strip Trump's name from the structure and associated materials. In his written decision, Cooper stated that the defendants cannot erect memorials for President Trump or anything else at the Kennedy Center absent congressional approval, noting that the board's resolution defies both a federal court order and a statute passed by Congress.

The earlier directive was followed by the center, and a tarp has since draped the front façade. Yet Cooper observed that the controversy has not subsided: on August 13, 2026, the board approved a resolution to honor what it described as Trump's current and future contributions to the center's survival in three distinct manners. One measure would add the phrase "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" beneath the official name, "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." The board also moved to designate the physical site and grounds as the "President Donald J. Trump Plaza." The Kennedy Center, which opened in 1971 as a living tribute to President John F. Kennedy, operates as a nonprofit cultural institution on the Potomac River and receives federal funding. The legal fight has unfolded against a backdrop of unusual presidential involvement in a cultural venue: Trump had previously announced the center would close for two years starting July 4, 2026, for what he called a "complete rebuilding," a plan Cooper blocked in his spring ruling.

Cooper sided with U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the original plaintiff in the renaming lawsuit. Beatty, who has served Ohio's 3rd Congressional District since 2013 and formerly led the Congressional Black Caucus, is entitled to enforcement of the injunction reflecting Congress's intent to memorialize President Kennedy and no one else at the center bearing his name, Cooper wrote. In his earlier ruling, Cooper had also granted Beatty's request for a preliminary injunction preventing Trump from taking additional steps to shutter the institution. The case underscores a broader tension over the scope of executive influence on federally chartered institutions: the Kennedy Center's board, like those of other national cultural entities, is subject to statutory limits that Congress set precisely to insulate such memorials from shifting political winds.

In a Tuesday post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted the Kennedy Center was in perilous disrepair when he returned to the White House in 2025. He wrote that the board had voted strongly to save it and that they know he is the only one capable of doing so, citing his fundraising and construction abilities and the power of the presidency. Trump added that a hostile and conflicted judge seemed unwilling to allow that, warning the building is destined for doom and lamenting that more than six months have been wasted in court. He noted the board was meeting again Tuesday, saying it would be interesting to see what happens. Variety has sought comment from Kennedy Center representatives. Legal experts have suggested that the dispute could eventually reach the D.C. Circuit, given the constitutional questions about congressional authority over memorials on federal property.