President Trump has argued that the Kennedy Center’s closure stemmed from safety concerns and that the name change was essential to its survival.
The Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has voted to close the doors of the historic venue, citing dire financial woes amid urgently needed renovations.
The board, made up of allies of President Donald Trump, met on Tuesday just hours after U.S. District Judge Casey Cooper blocked the latest effort to re-add his name to the venue.
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The closure marks a further escalation in a months-long standoff between the court and Mr. Trump, which follows an earlier attempt to shut down the nation’s premier performing arts center. After a judge ruled that changing the building’s name to include Trump would require Congressional approval, a presidentially appointed commission argued that the building’s survival depended on keeping Trump’s name on the façade.
President Trump responded to the closure in a social media post, writing that the board of directors had voted to close the venue for “safety reasons.” The president said no renovations would proceed until the building was named after him.
Judge Cooper ruled Tuesday that the proposed name change, which would include the words “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” inscribed below the existing sign, violates a previous order by the performing arts venue’s Board of Trustees blocking the building from being renamed.
“Simply put, defendants cannot place a monument to President Trump, any other person, or any other person at the Kennedy Center without Congressional approval,” Cooper wrote in his ruling.
The decision is another legal defeat for the Kennedy Center board, which has unsuccessfully tried to add his name to the historic venue.
Immediately after the verdict was handed down, President Trump harshly criticized the ruling, claiming that the venue was currently in a “virtual state of collapse” and that he was only trying to help.
“The Kennedy Center Board of Directors has voted strongly in favor of preservation, and they know that I’m the only one who can do it, because I have the ability to raise money and build, and few others have,” Trump wrote.
The president’s name was first added to the building in December 2025, before Cooper ruled it illegal in May and ordered Trump’s name removed. The commission complied, but the area where the sign is placed is still hidden behind tarpaulins and scaffolding.
Lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who filed the lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s change of venue as an ex-officio director, hailed Tuesday’s ruling as a “victory for memory” for former President John F. Kennedy and the nation.
“The court has told President Trump the same thing twice: you are not above the law,” attorneys Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said in a statement. “Legal decency has once again trumped President Trump’s vanity.”
Beatty echoed her lawyer’s opinion and criticized Trump for what she described as “holding the Kennedy Center hostage.”
“The law is very clear: The John F. Kennedy Center is named after President Kennedy and no one else,” Beatty said.
“This illegal behavior is both wrong and breathtaking and it needs to stop,” she added.
The ruling came a day after The Washington Post reported that the venue was on the verge of bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday.
According to the report, the trustees argued that putting Trump’s name on the building’s facade was the only way to avoid “certain financial ruin.”
Trump did not provide specifics, but suggested that he or the venue’s board may take further action after Tuesday’s ruling.
“I also have the strength and power as president that I will need to do what needs to be done and powerfully challenge for greatness once again!” he wrote of the venue.
“We have already wasted more than six months ‘playing’ in court. Time is our enemy! The Board of Directors, made up of some of the most prominent and respected people in our country, will meet again today. It will be interesting to see what happens!”
Al Jazeera has contacted current and former members of the Kennedy Center Board of Directors but has not yet received a response.
