A Kennedy Center official told a federal judge Saturday that all references to President Donald Trump — inside the building, on its exterior and on its website — have been removed to comply with a court order that required the change by noon.
Workers began taking down the lettering early Saturday morning, six months after a board handpicked by the president voted to add Trump’s name to the iconic performing arts center. The letters, added in December to read as a lead-in to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” were taken down by crews as several dozen onlookers cheered.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled on May 29 that the Kennedy Center’s board lacked the authority to rename the building, writing that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” The ruling also blocked a planned two-year closure the board had proposed for renovations; the judge described those plans as “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”
Late Friday the Justice Department asked for a 12-hour delay in the removal to show compliance with the order, saying thunderstorms had caused delays and that work was expected to conclude in the early hours of the morning. The appeals court denied the Kennedy Center’s request for a pause on Friday night.
In filings to the appeals court, the Kennedy Center argued for the first time that removing Trump’s name would force the center to return or forgo hundreds of millions of dollars raised for renovations because of a previously unannounced change to its bylaws. The center said donors had promised gifts only if the Trump name remained on the building. The filing did not explain when or how the bylaw change was made, nor did the center provide details on the specific amounts at risk. Opponents of the renaming, including lawyers for the ex officio board member who brought the suit — Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio — argued that the funding claim was never raised in the lower court and called the argument meritless.
Beatty called the name removal a victory in a Saturday statement: “Today’s victory is the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people. The rule of law prevailed, and that is worth celebrating,” she said, urging others to defend democratic institutions.
Kennedy Center lawyers had directed staff last week to remove references to Trump from official signage to comply with the judge’s order. By Monday the center’s website had reverted to its previous branding as the Kennedy Center, without Trump’s name.
The dispute began after Trump first suggested adding his name to the venue in a post last August. The courthouse fight over the rename and the renovation plans has now ended, for the moment, with the center restored to its prior name pending any further legal action or congressional decision.