On the 29th, a judge from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled to remove the name of U.S. President Trump from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and to halt the center's planned two-year closure for renovations.
In December 2025, the White House announced that the Kennedy Center would be renamed the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” This renaming move was strongly opposed by U.S. Democrats and the Kennedy family. Betty, a Democratic representative from Ohio and a member of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors, filed a lawsuit demanding the reversal of the renaming decision and the removal of Trump’s name.
This February, Trump announced on social media that the “Trump-Kennedy Center” would suspend performances starting in July for approximately two years in order to undergo renovations.
On the 29th, District Judge Cooper of the District of Columbia ruled that the Kennedy Center’s name cannot be changed without Congressional legislation.
In his 94-page decision, Cooper wrote: “The Kennedy Center’s organizational charter explicitly states that the center shall be named after President Kennedy, and the board has no unilateral authority to change its official or public commemorative name. Congress conferred this name to the Kennedy Center, and only Congress can change it… The court finds that the board’s unilateral action to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump exceeds its statutory authority.”
Cooper ordered the relevant parties to remove all physical signage bearing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center within 14 days, and to delete any references to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ from official materials. In addition, Cooper also ruled to halt the Kennedy Center’s planned two-year closure for renovations.
The Kennedy Center, named after the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, officially opened in 1971. The Kennedy Center is widely regarded as America’s national cultural center, hosting world-class music, opera, theater, dance, and other artistic performances.
According to earlier reports from local media, the renaming has directly affected the Kennedy Center's regular cultural activities, with some musicians and performance groups announcing the cancellation or withdrawal of their performances at the center.