On May 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board acted illegally when it added President Trump's name to the institution, and he ordered the name removed from the building within two weeks. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote, finding that the board “overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump.” A 1964 federal law established the institution as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” in honor of the assassinated president and bars the board from adding any other name. Cooper also granted Rep. Joyce Beatty a preliminary injunction blocking Trump, for now, from a separately announced plan to close the center for a two-year “complete rebuilding” starting July 4, 2026. The ruling resolved the lawsuit Beatty filed after the December 2025 vote.
The original action: on December 18, 2025, the Kennedy Center board voted to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” New signage was affixed the next day. Legal experts said the board lacked authority because Congress designated it in 1964 as a JFK memorial and a new law would be needed to change it. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member, disputed the claim that the vote was unanimous: “Each time I tried to speak, I was muted.” She said participants were not allowed to voice concerns during the vote, and she filed suit to stop the renaming.
A comedy writer had bought TrumpKennedyCenter domain names beforehand, anticipating the move.
The ruling landed on what would have been John F. Kennedy's 109th birthday. Maria Shriver, JFK's niece, celebrated it on Threads: “An appropriate birthday present on my uncle's birthday today. A federal judge ruled that President Trump and the Kennedy Center Board acted unlawfully in renaming the Kennedy Center after him.” Trump responded with a lengthy Truth Social screed against the judge, saying he now has “no interest” in the renovations and would work with Congress to “transfer this failing Institution back to them.” Judge Cooper separately found the Trump-appointed board “was derelict in discharging” its duties by agreeing to close the center based on “an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information.”
Trump's name was physically removed from the building's facade around June 12, 2026, after courts rejected last-minute efforts to keep it up. On June 19, Cooper ordered the administration to report on its plans to keep the center open and programmed past July 5; the next day, the center said it was not required to reschedule shows and would meet in mid-July to choose among a full, partial, or phased closure.
Related entries: A Judge Blocks Trump's Name From the Kennedy Center Again; the Board Closes the Building for Two Years and Trump Says It Could Be 'Ripped Down'.