Workers Remove Trump Name From Kennedy Center After Court Order; Endowment in His Name Planned
Crews took down the letters spelling President Trump's name from the Kennedy Center early Saturday, hours after a federal judge's deadline. The action followed a December 2025 board vote that had added his name to the venue.
pinknews.co.ukWorkers removed the metal letters spelling President Trump's name from the Kennedy Center facade in Washington early Saturday morning, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline. A federal judge ruled the previous week that the Kennedy Center must revert to its original name, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The court order followed a lawsuit filed by a Democratic congresswoman. The December 2025 board vote had renamed the complex the Donald J. Trump and John F. Workers erected a giant white tarp to shield the removal from public view, and the work took place at three in the morning.
Jim Acosta live-streamed the removal for nearly 11 hours on his YouTube show. Acosta, who anchored CNN Newsroom from 2021 until early 2025 and worked at the network for 18 years, had left the stream to sleep but returned after his producer alerted him that workers were touching the letters.
"It looks like they are potentially touching the letters," the producer said at the 10-hour, 18-minute mark. "I had just gotten home, and we thought this might take place later in the morning, and of course they did this in the dead of the night," Acosta said upon his return to the scene. The scaffolding and tarp remained visible on the building's exterior after the letters were taken down.
The Kennedy Center plans to establish a new endowment in Trump's name.
