Kennedy Center board votes to restore Trump's name despite court ruling

On Thursday, the Kennedy Center's board of trustees voted to inscribe President Trump's name onto the performing arts center's facade—a direct challenge to a federal judge's order issued more than two months earlier. The board decided to add the phrase "Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump" as a suffix to the institution's formal name, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, according to Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who sits on the board. The same vote also approved a two-year closure of the center for renovations. Trump participated in the virtual meeting by phone, listening to the more than two-hour session and speaking toward its end.

This marks the second time the board has attempted to attach the president's name to the building. In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ruled that an earlier effort to rename the center after both Kennedy and Trump violated federal law. The statute that established the Kennedy Center explicitly grants Congress—and only Congress—the authority to change its name or add memorials to its grounds. Cooper also blocked the board's plan to close the center until 2028, finding the decision was based on insufficient information and failed to account for the institution's legal obligations.

Beatty had filed the lawsuit that prompted Cooper's ruling, and her legal team responded swiftly to Thursday's vote. Attorneys Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky called the board's action "a transparent effort to circumvent the Court's ruling" and "a show of blatant disrespect to the courts." They vowed to return to court, saying the board "must answer for their actions—again." Beatty herself characterized the vote as defiance of the statutes Congress had passed to govern the institution.

The procedural irregularities surrounding the vote added another layer of concern. The proposal to add Trump's name was not listed on the formal agenda and was raised only near the meeting's end. Democratic board members, including Beatty, objected that the proposal had not been presented in writing before the vote took place. During his remarks, Trump referenced other renovation projects in the Washington area that his administration had backed without using taxpayer funds, and he noted that the Kennedy Center's parking garage was deteriorating.

The White House responded with a statement from spokesperson Liz Huston, saying that "under President Trump's bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world." The White House declined to comment directly on the president's participation in the board meeting itself.

Since returning to office last year, Trump has reshaped the Kennedy Center's governance by replacing board members with longtime allies, who subsequently elected him chair. Late last year, the board voted to rename the institution the "John F. Kennedy and The Donald J. Trump Memorial Center for the Performing Arts," framing the change as recognition of Trump's renovation efforts. His name was placed above Kennedy's on the building's stone facade. The changes sparked backlash from performers and congressional Democrats, leading some artists to cancel scheduled appearances.

When Beatty sued to block these changes, she argued that the board lacked authority to close the center or alter its name without congressional approval. Her lawyers emphasized that the Kennedy Center's name and its role as a Kennedy memorial are embedded in federal statute, and the board is legally required to prevent additional memorials or plaques from being installed. Judge Cooper, an Obama appointee, agreed in late May, writing that "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it." He also found the closure decision rested on inadequate information and ignored the board's full range of legal obligations.

The metallic letters spelling Trump's name were removed overnight on June 13, after an appeals court declined to intervene. Scaffolding and tarps remained in front of the building two months later. Trump responded to Cooper's ruling by attacking the judge and calling for his impeachment, while also threatening to withdraw his involvement with the Kennedy Center. "So now, the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially," he wrote on Truth Social in May. The board's Thursday vote suggests that threat has not materialized into action—and that the legal battle over the institution's name and governance is far from over.