The venue’s board, solidified by the president’s supporters, voted to add his name again despite past rulings.
Published August 27, 2026
A US judge questioned why the Kennedy Center, a performing arts venue ordered to be demolished in a previous ruling, was in a hurry to restore President Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts venue.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper asked Trump administration attorney Bradley Meyers on Thursday why he said venues needed to start displaying the president’s name on buildings again by Sept. 8.
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“What’s the magic behind that date?” Cooper asked.
Meyers said the date coincides with a vote earlier this month by the center’s board of directors, whose members were selected by Trump and later installed him as director.
Cooper replied, “That’s fine and good.” “What does that have to do with what Congress intended with these statutes? That’s exactly what’s in front of me.”
The legal tussle to put President Trump’s name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts building in Washington, D.C., is one of several examples of the president’s desire to change the landscape of the nation’s capital.
In addition to changes to the performing arts center, President Trump is demolishing the east wing of the White House and replacing it with a giant ballroom.
He also plans to build a giant Arc de Triomphe at a roundabout near historic Arlington National Cemetery.
The president and his allies have faced numerous legal challenges to these efforts, and critics say the projects require Congressional approval.
Cooper previously acknowledged in May that adding Trump’s name to the building was illegal and that only Congress could rebrand the building.
He also thwarted attempts to close the building for two years. Although the board described the effort as necessary to preserve the building, critics saw the closure as retaliation for the backlash against the name change effort.
But earlier this month, the pro-Trump board made a renewed push to have his name appear again on the facade by adding the inscription “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”
The vote also called for the plaza in front of the venue to be renamed after President Trump.
On Tuesday, government officials threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center unless renovations were completed. They warned that without the board’s intervention, the performing arts center would become “decrepit.”
But at Thursday’s hearing, Cooper rejected the idea that the court order was standing in the way of repairs.
“No one is stopping the center from making the necessary repairs,” Cooper said. “The idea that continued judicial involvement stands in the way of achieving necessary repairs is simply not fair.”
The board change lawsuit against the Kennedy Center was filed by Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, the Kennedy Center’s director who represents Ohio in Congress.
Mr. Beatty’s lawyers said Thursday that they view the board’s recent actions as a “complete defiance” of the court.
The Kennedy Center was named by Congress as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, who helped raise funds for its establishment. He was assassinated in 1963. By law, no other national memorial to Kennedy is permitted in Washington, DC.
