Kennedy Center orders staff to begin removing Trump’s name after ruling
The Kennedy Center has ordered staff to erase President Donald Trump’s name from official materials, less than a week after a federal judge ruled it had been illegally added to the storied arts institution.
The Kennedy Center ordered staff Thursday to erase President Donald Trump’s name from official materials, less than a week after a federal judge ruled it had been illegally added to the storied arts institution.
In a three-page memo, the center’s general counsel told employees they needed to scrub all references to Trump, restoring the venue’s title to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” Employees were directed to immediately change email signatures, letterhead and other documents and given until June 12 to modify signs, brochures, ID cards and the center’s website.
The directive came six days after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s board had exceeded its authority when it voted to add Trump’s name to the center in December. The memo was the first indication that the Kennedy Center plans to comply with the judge’s order.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The unsigned memo, obtained by The Washington Post, instructed staff members to revert all references to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “the Kennedy Center” and provided a table of the offices responsible and deadlines for compliance. The general counsel’s office told employees to flag anything the memo had missed.
“We are complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership,” center spokesperson Roma Daravi said in a statement.
The Kennedy Center did not respond to questions about whether officials planned to remove Trump’s name from the front of the building.
The White House responded by citing a social media post in which Trump said the center’s board voted unanimously to rename the center after him “because they thought it would be good for this dying Institution.”
The Thursday memo also addressed the judge’s order to at least temporarily halt plans to close for two years starting in early July. The general counsel’s office noted that Cooper did not ban officials from closing the center but ruled the board made a rash decision without considering enough information about the possible harms. He left the door open for trustees to reconsider “should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.”
“The Court did not rule that the Center must stay open during the renovations, and did not require that the Center present any particular programming on-site during the renovations,” the general counsel’s office said.
“The Center is considering its options and will provide further guidance shortly,” the memo adds.
Expunging Trump’s name throughout the center would be the most tangible setback in the president’s 15-month effort to take over the performing arts venue.
In February 2025, he purged the center’s board of trustees and replaced them with political allies who then elected Trump board chair. In December, those loyalists voted to rename the venue, and a day later, crews added Trump’s name to the exterior.
Trump claimed that the board’s vote to do so was a surprise, but he had joked about naming the center after himself for months. Within hours his name was on the website, and the next morning the building’s sign read: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Justice Department lawyers representing Trump later acknowledged that, given the speed with which the signage was installed, it had been “prepared and/or purchased prior to the Board’s vote the day before.”
The addition of Trump’s name sparked immediate backlash from the arts community and members of the Kennedy family, who argued that the renaming desecrated a living memorial to the assassinated president. Congress established the center in 1964, two months after Kennedy’s death, designating it “the sole national monument to his memory within the city of Washington and its environs.” Critics noted that under the law creating the institution, only Congress has authority to change the center’s name.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio board member, sued fellow trustees in December after she was muted during a virtual board meeting when she tried to voice opposition to the name change.
On Friday, Cooper ruled that Congress was “crystal clear” in 1964 when it passed legislation changing the name of the National Cultural Center to the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” designating it as “a living memorial” to the president who had been assassinated the year before.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name,” Cooper wrote, “and only Congress can change it.”
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