Lawyers for the Kennedy Center reportedly appealed a judge’s ruling to force the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the building’s façade on Thursday, one day ahead of its deadline.
The Trump-appointed board voted to appeal the ruling on Thursday before their notice was filed. They are also seeking a stay to undo Judge Christopher Cooper’s decision to block the two-year closure for renovations, which would otherwise utilize the Trump Kennedy Center Fund’s $257 million securement from Congress (in addition to other supplemental private funds).
Chairman Trump’s lawyers wrote that “requiring a name change now, only to potentially revert back to the current name after appeal would be incredibly confusing for the public,” according to The New York Times. They also cited the “time and money” that would be wasted should his name eventually go back up.
Judge Cooper gave the Washington, D.C., performing arts center two weeks to remove “Trump” from official messaging at the end of May. The president’s name had since been erased from the center’s website, YouTube and social media pages ahead of Friday’s deadline.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote at the time. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump then responded on Truth Social. “There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country.”
The initial ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member on the Kennedy Board of Trustees. Trump added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts building in December after taking over the cultural center in February 2025.
TheWrap has reached out to the Kennedy Center for further comment.
