Hours after a federal judge blocked Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, its board voted to close most of the facility.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, ruled Tuesday that the Kennedy Center board cannot place Trump’s name on the building’s facade or rename the surrounding grounds without congressional approval. It was the second time Cooper has stepped in to block such an effort. The ruling came down, and the board moved quickly, voting to shut down most of the performing arts complex for renovations. President Trump then announced the closure would take effect immediately.
The board had voted 20-3 on August 13 to add language to the building’s exterior reading: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” A separate vote designated the surrounding grounds as “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Justice Department attorneys argued the inscription was not a renaming but a recognition of Trump’s role in overseeing the building’s renovation, and that it therefore complied with Cooper’s earlier ruling. Cooper rejected that argument, finding the board could not accomplish indirectly what his prior order already barred it from doing directly. For the Kennedy Center naming dispute, the judge was clear: federal law gives Congress, not the board, authority over memorials and institutional changes at the complex.
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The conflict stretches back further. The board had previously voted to rename the institution the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and an ex officio board member, sued to stop that change. Cooper sided with her in May, ruling the board had no authority to rename a congressionally established memorial on its own. Trump’s name, which had been installed on the building’s front portico, was removed in June while the administration appealed.
The Kennedy Center was originally established by Congress in 1958 as the National Cultural Center. It was renamed in honor of President John F. Kennedy following his assassination in 1963. Cooper cited that history in his ruling, writing that the board cannot install memorials for Trump or anyone else at the Kennedy Center without Congress first giving the green light.
Congress has allocated roughly $257 million for repairs to the aging facility, which officials say has serious structural and maintenance problems. Trump has served as chairman of the Kennedy Center board since returning to the White House, replacing several trustees and overseeing significant changes to the center’s leadership and programming. He has argued his continued involvement is essential to completing the renovations and securing ongoing financial support for the project.
With the naming fight now twice blocked in court and the facility headed into a major renovation shutdown, the dispute has shifted from a legal battle over words on a wall to a question of who controls one of the country’s most prominent cultural institutions, and how far a president can go without an act of Congress.
