{"id":350594,"date":"2026-06-14T07:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T02:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=350594"},"modified":"2026-06-14T07:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T02:15:31","slug":"did-trumps-name-come-off-the-kennedy-center-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/14\/did-trumps-name-come-off-the-kennedy-center-what-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Trump&#8217;s Name Come Off the Kennedy Center? What to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"p1\">A federal judge has ruled that President<b> Donald Trump<\/b>\u2018s name must come off the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts \u2014 and members of the Kennedy family are celebrating the choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">U.S. District Judge <b>Christopher Cooper<\/b> 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\u2019s planned two-year closure for alleged renovations, throwing the constructing\u2019s future into uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">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 \u201cThe Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Keep scrolling to learn more:<\/p>\n<div class=\"link-related article link-related__with-thumb\">\n<figure class=\"article__figure\">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"article__content\">\n<h3 class=\"article__title\">\n<p>    <span class=\"related-badge\">Related: <\/span><span class=\"related-title\">Kennedy Family Reacts to Donald Trump\u2019s Planned Kennedy Center Closure<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t\tPresident Donald Trump has much more plans for the Kennedy Center after he worked to rename the landmark. \u201cThe Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we&#8217;ll concurrently begin Construction of the brand new and spectacular Entertainment Complex,\u201d Trump, 79, wrote via Truth [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Judge\u2019s Ruling Explained<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">A judge ruled in May 2026 that Trump and the Kennedy Center\u2019s Board of Trustees <span class=\"s1\">acted unlawfully<\/span> after they added the president\u2019s name onto the venue, which Congress previously dedicated to President <b>John F. Kennedy<\/b> in 1964 \u2014 a yr after his assassination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe Kennedy Center\u2019s 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\u2019s unilateral say-so,\u201d Cooper wrote in his decision. \u201cCongress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The judge also halted Trump\u2019s planned two-year shutdown of the venue, which was originally scheduled to start in July 2026 to coincide with the country\u2019s 250th anniversary. Cooper found that \u201cnot one of the board members had sufficient information prematurely of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to shut the middle,\u201d in response to <i>The<\/i> <i>Recent York Times<\/i>. He left the door open for the board to revisit the closure if it independently weighs \u201cits multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Kennedy Center Staff Told to Scrub Trump References<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">In a June 4, 2026, memo obtained by Politico, Kennedy Center employees were told to <span class=\"s2\">strip Trump\u2019s name from internal and public-facing materials<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIt&#8217;s essential to immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents to reflect the name as \u2018The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,\u2019 or \u2018Kennedy Center,&#8217;\u201d the memo read. \u201cOther changes, corresponding to to templates and forms, signage, brochures, and website pages, should be accomplished no later than Friday, June 12, 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Trump\u2019s name had already been quietly faraway from the middle\u2019s official website, voicemail and YouTube channel in the times leading as much as the memo, in response to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A Kennedy Center spokesperson said in a press release, \u201cWe&#8217;re complying with the court\u2019s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump\u2019s leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Construction staff were spotted removing Trump\u2019s name from the constructing facade on June 13, 2026.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Maria Shriver and Jack Schlossberg Have fun the Decision<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">JFK\u2019s niece Shriver called the ruling <span class=\"s1\">a \u201cbirthday present\u201d <\/span>for her late uncle, who would have turned 109 the day Cooper issued his decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cAn appropriate birthday present on my uncle\u2019s birthday today. A federal judge ruled that President Trump and the Kennedy Center Board acted unlawfully in renaming the Kennedy Center after him,\u201d Shriver wrote via Threads in May 2026. \u201cThe judge held that only Congress can change the Center\u2019s name and blocked the planned two-year closure for now. I do know they\u2019ll probably appeal and the story isn\u2019t over, but for today, let\u2019s have a good time an incredible birthday gift.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">JFK\u2019s grandson, Schlossberg, took an excellent sharper tone, writing via X: \u201cTrump 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Donald Trump Responds to Judge\u2019s Ruling<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">The president slammed Cooper\u2019s decision in a lengthy Truth Social post, accusing the judge \u2014 a President <b>Barack Obama <\/b>appointee \u2014 of bias and vowing to push Congress to take the constructing off his hands entirely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cShockingly, 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&#8217;t be allowed to shut for these renovations,\u201d Trump wrote, claiming that he instructed the Department of Commerce to <span class=\"s1\">\u201cmake all needed arrangements\u201d to transfer control <\/span>of the Kennedy Center back to Congress.<\/p>\n<div id=\"news-block\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form  \">\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-narrow.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"newsletter-form__background background-narrow\" loading=\"lazy\"><br \/>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-wide.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"newsletter-form__background background-wide\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__success\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<h3>Thank You!<\/h3>\n<p>You might have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Kennedy Center Board of Trustees Files Appeal<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Board of Trustees voted to <span class=\"s2\">seek a stay of Cooper\u2019s order<\/span> in June 2026, arguing the name change reversal could be \u201ceach wasteful for the Center and confusing for the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><b>Roma Daravi<\/b>, the Trump Kennedy Center vp of public relations, said in a press release, \u201cWith $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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><i>This story was compiled with the assistance of AI tools and edited by journalists.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump\u2018s name must come off the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts \u2014 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":350595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[7151,21386,8711],"class_list":["post-350594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-center","tag-kennedy","tag-trumps"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":350597,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594\/revisions\/350597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}