Kennedy Center board to fight order to remove Trump's name as deadline looms

Source: Washington Post

June 11, 2026 at 6:58 p.m. EDT


The Kennedy Center's board plans to fight a federal judge's order to remove President Donald Trump's name from the performing arts center.

The center's trustees on Thursday voted to seek a last-minute stay of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's directive to take Trump's name off the center's exterior by Friday as they appeal his ruling that renaming the center was illegal, according to a meeting attendee and someone briefed by a meeting attendee, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
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The board's decision came a day before Cooper's deadline for the center to remove Trump's name from its building and branding, part of a ruling in which the judge also granted a request from Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to temporarily block steps toward a planned two-year shutdown.

Cooper's order, the most significant legal blow yet to Trump's effort to remake the Kennedy Center, found that the board exceeded its authority in December when it voted to rename the venue "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." Congress gave the center its name, Cooper wrote, and only Congress can change it.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/06/11/kennedy-center-board-fight-order-remove-trumps-name-deadline-looms/