A federal judge ruled that Trump’s name was illegally added to the cultural center, which was explicitly named for JFK to memorialize him after his assassination
President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the John F
NEED TO KNOW President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center in Washington and must be removed within two weeks, a D. C. federal judge ordered on Friday The judge also blocked Trump’s plan to close the landmark for two years for renovations A 1964 law passed by Congress named the national cultural center for the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and must be removed within two weeks, a D. C. federal judge ordered on Friday, May 29. The court order comes as Trump has scrambled to remake Washington in his image, proposing new monuments, aggressively pushing ahead with his new White House ballroom, adding gold leaf to bronze statues, and renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be more blue, among other efforts. In a broader ruling on Friday
Kennedy Center vice president of public relations Roma Darvis
But — as was the case with his ballroom — Trump and his allies did not consult Congress on the Kennedy Center plans before enacting them. On Friday, U. S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper found that the MAGA-aligned Kennedy Center board violated the law when they added his name to the Kennedy Center’s exterior, as well as its website and marketing materials. Cooper also blocked Trump’s plan to shutter the Washington, D. C. , landmark for two years for “construction, revitalization and complete rebuilding,” as the president announced in February. a veteran of Trump’s first term White House, told The Associated Press that the center is “confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.” “We remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy,” Darvis told the AP. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE. The Trump administration has appealed similar rulings about the ballroom and other projects in recent months.
“We’re fixing up the what was the Kennedy Center
I was honored when the board changed the name a little bit,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting in March. “Actually, it shows that the Republicans and the Democrats, they worked together. It’s really something. We work together.” In his ruling on Friday, Cooper noted that the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, which Trump replaced before having them appoint him as chair, ran afoul of a 1964 law that named the national cultural center for the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Both court orders came from lawsuits brought by Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat on the board of trustees who said she was prevented from voting against the name change that the White House claimed in December 2025 was approved unanimously. “Today’s ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law
Beatty said in a statement to PEOPLE
“The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity.” The Obama-appointed judge wrote on Friday that the Trump administration must “remove all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any other individual besides President Kennedy” within 14 days. Officials at the center must also submit a sworn declaration that they are complying with the order. That signage includes, but is not “limited to the signage that currently reads ‘The Donald J Trump And’ on the front of the Center’s main building,” Cooper wrote. He also ordered the administration to remove from the center’s website and other material all references to the attempted renaming of the center last year to “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
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Trump has taken a particular interest in the management of the performing arts center since returning to the White House last year, including: naming himself chair of the board of trustees and replacing the previous board with allies and administration officials, hosting the premiere of the Amazon documentary about first lady Melania Trump, and helping select marble armrests for the seating at the center.
