The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the US has announced that it will not immediately reprint US President Donald Trump’s name on its historic venue.
In a joint court filing Tuesday, the Kennedy Center’s board of directors indicated it had “committed” to take no further action until Sept. 8, when legal arguments are played out.
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But critics warned that the deadline, which is about three weeks away, is an excuse for the board to make further changes to the cultural center in downtown Washington, D.C.
“To be clear, this fire drill is entirely the initiative of Defendants,” the plaintiffs in the lawsuit wrote, referring to the deadline.
Changes to the Kennedy Center under the Trump administration have been the subject of a long legal battle.
Since President Trump’s second term began in 2025, his mostly self-appointed board of directors has pushed to increase his influence over the arts scene, including naming him chairman.
The theater voted in December to put President Trump’s name on the building, which many believed violated a law in Congress that designated the theater a living memorial to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Amid the controversy, President Trump announced in February that the building would be closed for two years of renovations.
The decision prompted a lawsuit, with Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, a member of the venue’s board, accusing the board of violating the laws governing the Kennedy Center.
In May, a federal judge ruled that only the U.S. Congress has the authority to change a venue’s name and ordered Trump’s name removed from the building’s facade.
But last week, the Kennedy Center board tried again to put the president’s name on the building.
The bill voted 20-3 to engrave the words “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” below the existing sign and to name the plaza in front of the theater complex in honor of President Trump.
In a filing Tuesday, Beatty’s attorney wrote that some board members “appear to have an intent to defy the court’s decision” in May.
“Therefore, there is good reason to believe that defendants will seek to implement some or all of this latest unlawful resolution at the earliest opportunity after September 8,” the attorneys wrote.
Lawyers for the Trump administration said in a filing that they disagree with those claims and that “the record will demonstrate the board’s prudence.”
Tarps and scaffolding have covered the area where the letter once stood since work began to remove Trump’s name from the building.
The Kennedy Center made no commitment to reveal the area that once bore Trump’s name. In the latest court documents, the commission argued that the covering was necessary for “water quality testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.”
“The protective barrier around the scaffolding was and remains a necessary element of the ongoing construction activities at the Center,” Trump’s lawyers and the committee wrote in their filing.
“While the name was removed, it served as a safety barrier for ongoing construction activities and helped protect the building’s marble facade in light of reported panel damage.”
But Mr. Beatty’s lawyers characterized this rationale as an admission by the government that the venue’s “historic marble” was likely damaged in adding or removing Mr. Trump’s name.
“Adding a new inscription in direct defiance of this court’s decision clearly has the potential to cause further harm,” her lawyers wrote.
“The latest renaming resolution is a breathtaking act of defiance,” they added.
Beatty’s lawsuit is part of a series of legal entanglements involving historic arts venues since President Trump returned to the White House.
Last week, a judge awarded jazz musician Chuck Redd more than $250,000 in legal fees after the Kennedy Center sued him for canceling an appearance over Trump’s rebranding. The lawsuit was dismissed in June.
