The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on May 16, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump from adding his name to the Kennedy Center, as he did in late December, ruling that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Judge Christopher Cooper ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the agency and another court within two weeks.
Cooper also temporarily blocked the Washington, DC, art gallery, which in December was renamed the “Trump Kennedy Center,” from being closed for two years for renovations ordered by the president, who chairs its Board of Trustees.
Cooper’s order came after the case of Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and former Kennedy Center trustee, filed a civil lawsuit challenging the renaming, the closing of the center for renovations, and the forfeiture of her voting rights in May 2025.
Cooper, in his decision, said the board of the Kennedy Center did not measure its responsibilities to the center when it decided to shut down the phone for repairs.
But the board may be able to close for that purpose “after independently weighing its multiple obligations to the Institution in a prudent manner,” the judge wrote in a ruling in US District Court in Washington.
Cooper also said his preliminary injunction “will not prevent the Center from moving forward with the capital repair work we have planned.”
Trump later criticized Cooper for the decision, but he appeared to have resigned instead of having his name removed from the Kennedy Center, which the president described as in dire need of repair.
“We will work with Congress to restore this failing agency so they can decide what to do with it,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself!” the president wrote. “I will not be able to engage in a situation where danger to the public is allowed to fester openly and openly.”
The board’s vote to rename the center took place ten months after Trump removed many trustees from the board and appointed himself as trustee. The front of the center was changed to reflect the decision, as were other signs in the area.
“Representative Beatty has the right to summary judgment on the renaming issue,” Cooper wrote Friday.
“The Kennedy Center charter makes it clear that this center will be named after the President [John] Kennedy, and cannot have another official name or public memorial based on the Board’s declaration,” the judge wrote.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
(LR) Mindy Levine, Trustee-designate, speaks with US Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH) as they wait for US President Donald Trump to arrive for a luncheon with members of the Trump Kennedy Center Board in the East Room of the White House on March 16, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Cooper also ordered that Beatty be restored to his voting rights as a former trustee.
“The organic constitution of the Center makes no distinction between the powers of general and ex officio trustees,” Cooper wrote.
“There is nothing in the law that allows the Board to fundamentally discriminate between the two regarding the fundamental rights of the trustees,” the judge wrote.
“And depriving ex-officio trustees of their voting rights is contrary to statutory trust principles, principles that place trustees on an equal footing when it comes to participating in trust management.”
Beatty, in a statement, said, “Today’s decision confirms that this administration’s efforts to rebrand and close this facility have no basis in law.”
“The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump,” Beatty said.
“He has defiled this sacred monument because of his vanity. I am proud to fight for the law and protect this sacred institution.”
Beatty’s attorneys, Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Action and Nathaniel Zelinsky, a senior attorney at the Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement., “This decision sends an important message: the law is important.
“This is a powerful blow against the corruption of the Trump administration,” they said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which is defending Trump in the case, said, “The Department is pleased that the court has rejected the challenges to the Trump-Kennedy Center renovation, and we will continue to protect President Trump’s ability to restore the center to its former glory as the best performing arts center in the country – if not the world.”
