In December 2025, the Kennedy Center’s Trump-appointed board of trustees voted to rename the center. Signage soon followed, reading “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, filed a lawsuit saying that the name change was unlawful. Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May 2026 that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” and ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building, website, and other materials.
Since Trump’s name was removed from the building, the facade has remained covered with scaffolding and tarps while the legal case continues.
The Trump administration said it could demolish the Kennedy Center if it is not allowed to proceed with its planned $257 million renovation, part of which includes adding Trump’s name to the building.
In the filing, Justice Department attorneys wrote that if the renovation is not completed, “the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down.”
In September 2026, the Kennedy Center board voted to close for renovations. A federal judge later allowed the building to remain temporarily closed while officials assess safety concerns, but did not rule on the planned renovations. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the Kennedy Center would remain closed until the court issues a ruling.
“If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the US Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” he wrote.
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