The Kennedy Center fully removed President Donald Trump’s name from its building on Saturday. Kennedy Center Director Matt Floca told a judge in court documents Saturday that the name had been officially reverted. Crews finished the work in the early hours of Saturday, leaving tarps over scaffolding on the building.
This development follows the May 29 ruling that Trump’s board lacked authority to rename the federally chartered institution. Judge Christopher Cooper’s 94-page opinion was issued on what would have been President John F. Kennedy’s 109th birthday. In it, he wrote that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” The order gave defendants 14 days to strip Trump’s name from the building, website, and branding, withdraw pending “Trump Kennedy Center” trademark applications, and file sworn proof of compliance. Cooper separately enjoined a preliminary injunction blocking the board’s planned two-year closure for renovations. He then ordered the restoration of voting rights to Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio trustee. Beatty (D-OH) brought the suit in December 2025, challenging the renaming, the planned closure, and the stripping of her vote.
As the deadline approached, the Kennedy Center board voted to appeal the decision. The US Department of Justice, representing the center, filed a notice of appeal and a motion to stay the injunction pending appeal. Cooper denied that stay on June 12, finding the defendants had not shown irreparable harm or a likelihood of success on the merits and had already begun complying with the order. A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit then denied an immediate administrative stay in No. 26-5224. The panel gave no reasons and set briefing on the broader stay motion, with Beatty’s response due June 22 and any reply due June 29. Shortly after midnight Saturday, the center asked the court to push the deadline to noon, citing thunderstorms that had delayed work; the court agreed. The removal was completed early Saturday.
Trump, who made himself board chair in 2025, blasted the May 29 ruling in a lengthy Truth Social post. He signaled he would step back from the institution, writing that Cooper “should be ashamed of himself.” In contrast, Beatty said the center “belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump.” The dispute relates to the board’s approval of a roughly $257 million renovation and closure starting in July. The DC Circuit is expected to rule on the stay-pending-appeal motion after briefing ends June 29. Trump’s name could return if the administration prevails on appeal. A parallel suit by preservation groups, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, had sought to block the closure on historic-preservation and environmental grounds. Cooper, however, rejected that challenge on May 29, even as he ruled for Beatty.
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