US judge rules Trump's name must remain off Kennedy Center

US judge rules Trump's name must remain off Kennedy Center Estelle.Bronkhorst Wed, 09/16/2026 - 06:00

WASHINGTON - A US federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump's name cannot be added back onto the Kennedy Center's exterior, rebuking the storied cultural institution's new board for trying to circumvent an earlier order.

The ruling comes just as the board -- which Trump has stacked with allies -- is set to meet to consider an emergency shutdown of the centre for renovations, citing fiscal and safety concerns.

"Simply put," wrote judge Christopher Cooper in his decision, the board "cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing."

Cooper previously ordered Trump's name removed from the exterior of the Kennedy Center and overturned the board's decision last year to rename the institution the "Trump-Kennedy Center."

Workers removed Trump's name from the building in June, but scaffolding and tarps have remained ever since.

Last month, the board moved forward with a plan to add a new signage on the building that would read "renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump."

Cooper on Tuesday said that plan was in violation of his previous ruling.

The board meanwhile was set to meet Tuesday and vote on a potential years-long shutdown of the centre for major renovations sought by Trump.

Trump and his chosen leaders of the Kennedy Center have argued that its main building, which was constructed in the 1960s, is in a state of dangerous disrepair.

As evidence of the safety problems, the president pointed to a recent incident in which a piece of the ceiling tumbled to the ground following a storm.

"If the Building were open, innocent people would have been killed," he wrote Tuesday in a long post on his Truth Social platform.

"The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I'm the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have," Trump said.

Last month, as part of court proceedings, the Trump administration warned that the centre may need to be demolished, if its plans to renovate the building were blocked.

Shortly after beginning his second term, Trump installed himself as chairman of the centre, which is named in honour of late president John F. Kennedy, who championed civil rights before he was assassinated in 1963.

A host of artists cancelled concerts at the venue in response to Trump's takeover, while US media has reported that Kennedy Center ticket sales have plummeted to their lowest levels since the Covid pandemic.

• AFP