A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump‘s name must come off the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — and members of the Kennedy family are celebrating the choice.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper handed down the 94-page ruling in May 2026, finding that only Congress has the ability to rename the federally chartered Washington, D.C., institution. The choice also temporarily blocked the venue’s planned two-year closure for alleged renovations, throwing the constructing’s future into uncertainty.
Trump appointed himself the president of the Kennedy Center upon his second term as president, which began in January 2025. He also replaced your complete board of trustees, who subsequently voted to rename the theater “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
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Judge’s Ruling Explained
A judge ruled in May 2026 that Trump and the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees acted unlawfully after they added the president’s name onto the venue, which Congress previously dedicated to President John F. Kennedy in 1964 — a yr after his assassination.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear another formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote in his decision. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
The judge also halted Trump’s planned two-year shutdown of the venue, which was originally scheduled to start in July 2026 to coincide with the country’s 250th anniversary. Cooper found that “not one of the board members had sufficient information prematurely of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to shut the middle,” in response to The Recent York Times. He left the door open for the board to revisit the closure if it independently weighs “its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.”
Kennedy Center Staff Told to Scrub Trump References
In a June 4, 2026, memo obtained by Politico, Kennedy Center employees were told to strip Trump’s name from internal and public-facing materials.
“It’s essential to immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center,’” the memo read. “Other changes, corresponding to to templates and forms, signage, brochures, and website pages, should be accomplished no later than Friday, June 12, 2026.”
Trump’s name had already been quietly faraway from the middle’s official website, voicemail and YouTube channel in the times leading as much as the memo, in response to the Associated Press.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said in a press release, “We’re complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership.”
Construction staff were spotted removing Trump’s name from the constructing facade on June 13, 2026.
Maria Shriver and Jack Schlossberg Have fun the Decision
JFK’s niece Shriver called the ruling a “birthday present” for her late uncle, who would have turned 109 the day Cooper issued his decision.
“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,” Shriver wrote via Threads in May 2026. “The judge held that only Congress can change the Center’s name and blocked the planned two-year closure for now. I do know they’ll probably appeal and the story isn’t over, but for today, let’s have a good time an incredible birthday gift.”
JFK’s grandson, Schlossberg, took an excellent sharper tone, writing via X: “Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the constructing. He can attempt to kill JFK. But JFK is kept alive by us now rising as much as remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”
Donald Trump Responds to Judge’s Ruling
The president slammed Cooper’s decision in a lengthy Truth Social post, accusing the judge — a President Barack Obama appointee — of bias and vowing to push Congress to take the constructing off his hands entirely.
“Shockingly, a Judge appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, Christopher Cooper, ruled that The Kennedy Center, which was going to shut in early July for large-scale renovations and construction as a result of 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 within the World, shouldn’t be allowed to shut for these renovations,” Trump wrote, claiming that he instructed the Department of Commerce to “make all needed arrangements” to transfer control of the Kennedy Center back to Congress.
Kennedy Center Board of Trustees Files Appeal
The Board of Trustees voted to seek a stay of Cooper’s order in June 2026, arguing the name change reversal could be “each wasteful for the Center and confusing for the general public.”
Roma Daravi, the Trump Kennedy Center vp of public relations, said in a press release, “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 make sure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”
This story was compiled with the assistance of AI tools and edited by journalists.