A federal judge has ruled that the Kennedy Center board violated the law when it added President Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts venue and blocked the institution from temporarily closing its doors this summer to renovate.
The law establishing the center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” U.S. District Judge Casey Cooper wrote in his opinion, adding, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
In Cooper’s opinion, he ruled that officials are required to remove any of the signage at the Kennedy Center that bears Trump’s name within two weeks. Additionally, the website must be updated to remove references to the “Trump Kennedy Center” name and also any references to “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi indicated there would be an appeal. “We are 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,” she said.
The White House referred RS to Trump’s Truth Social post. In a lengthy missive posted Friday, Trump began by commenting on the ruling of the judge against the planned July renovations closure, saying it was needed “due to years of neglect, decay, and poor maintenance, and which was to be transformed by the Trump Administration into the Finest Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World, is not allowed to close for these renovations, which would not be possible to properly do without such a closure.”
Trump went on to claim that before his administration’s involvement, the center has lost “Hundreds of Millions of Dollars — In some cases, including ridiculous construction jobs that were done, over 100 Million Dollars a year.” He added that he “looked forward to making it into a Great and Prestigious WINNER for Washington, D.C., and indeed, the United States of America. Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life.”
Trump continued, writing that his administration is “going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it” and then went off on Judge Cooper some more and complained that “There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country.”
In Judge Cooper’s ruling, he permanently blocked the center from “displaying, installing, or maintaining any physical or digital signage on the Kennedy Center building or grounds that designates, suggests, or implies that the institution is named for any person other than President John F. Kennedy.”
While the judge blocked the center from temporarily closing its doors for renovations, he did say plans to renovate could move forward after the Board considers its “full range of statutory obligations.”
“There is no evidence that the Board took account of its full range of statutory obligations in determining that a wholesale shuttering of the Kennedy Center was appropriate,” he wrote in his ruling. “In short, there is no evidence before the Court that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees considered how it would accomplish its full legislative mandate during the closure period.”
Regarding that part of the ruling, Daravi said they would “review the decision carefully,” but insisted the Kennedy Center “requires an urgent and significant restoration – a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges. With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and 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.”
The ruling marks a significant hindrance to Trump’s efforts to fully remake the Kennedy Center in his image. While the name change was announced late last year, one of his first acts after returning to the White House was gutting the Kennedy Center board, filling it with cronies, and installing himself as chairman.
These changes have garnered significant criticism, particularly from artists who’ve pushed back by canceling appearances at the Kennedy Center. These included Renee Fleming, Philip Glass, the Washington National Opera, Ben Folds, and Béla Fleck.
This article has been updated to include Trump’s Truth Social response to the ruling and a statement from the Kennedy Center.