Judge Rules Kennedy Center Cannot Be Officially Renamed Without Congress, Blocks Two-Year Closure for Renovations

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered on Friday that President Donald Trump's name be removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The ruling requires the Trump administration to take down all signage bearing Trump's name and eliminate references to a "Trump-Kennedy Center" from official materials.

Judge Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the building. He wrote that the Kennedy Center's organic statute makes clear the Center is to be named for President Kennedy and cannot bear any other formal name based on the Board's unilateral say-so.

"Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," Cooper wrote.

The judge also blocked the planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center during renovations. Cooper had previously denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a preservation group to block the closure. The board voted unanimously to approve $257 million in renovations and a two-year closure.

President Trump secured the $257 million from Congress as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for maintenance, repairs, security and capital projects related to the Kennedy Center building and site. Trump's name was added to the venue in December after a unanimous decision by the board.

Workers installed Donald J. Trump signage above the existing Kennedy Center sign on Dec. 19, 2025. In February 2025, Trump was elected chairman of the Kennedy Center board after removing 18 trustees appointed by former President Joe Biden.

Roma Daravi, the Trump Kennedy Center vice president of public relations, said the board plans to appeal the decision. "We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration — a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges," Daravi said.

President Trump wrote that Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see the Kennedy Center die than have President Trump transform it.

"Based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it," Trump wrote.

Trump wrote that Judge Cooper received a presentation by building and construction experts on how structurally dangerous the Kennedy Center is, including rotting beams and parking areas subject to collapse. "But he was not 'swayed,' and said he wants the Building to, incredibly, remain open and, therefore, dangerous," Trump wrote.

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, said the ruling affirms that the administration's efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law.

"The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump," Beatty said.