The Predawn Operation
At dawn on Saturday, June 13, 2026, the name "Donald J. Trump" no longer loomed over the entrance to America's premier performing arts venue. Workers had spent the night on hydraulic lifts behind plastic sheeting, unbolting the metal letters from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. By the time the sun rose, only scaffolding and white tarps remained — hiding a sign that once again bore only the name of the fallen president the building was built to honor.
The removal came just hours after a federal judge and an appeals court rejected last-minute bids by the Trump administration and the Kennedy Center's handpicked board to delay a court-ordered deadline of June 12. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ruled on May 29 that only Congress can change the name of the living memorial, setting a two-week clock for Trump's name to come down.
Only Congress Can Rename the Memorial
Trump's name was added to the center in December 2025 after a board packed with loyalists — including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Fox News host Laura Ingraham — voted to rename it the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." The move drew immediate backlash and a lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board. In his 94-page opinion, Judge Cooper wrote:
Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.Christopher Cooper, U.S. District Judge
The Kennedy Center board filed an emergency appeal on Friday afternoon to pause the removal, but Judge Cooper denied it. The board then took the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel — including Trump appointee Gregory Katsas — also refused to intervene. By Friday evening, scaffolding was up and the letters were covered, as a crowd gathered to watch.
Renovation Plans Also Blocked
In the same ruling, Cooper temporarily blocked the Trump-appointed board's plan to close the Kennedy Center for two years for a $257 million renovation. He described the closure process as "ill-informed and seemingly preordained." The renovation, which would have shuttered the venue from July 2026, is now on hold pending further litigation — a direct hit to a board that had pushed the project as part of its overhaul of the institution's programming.
Rep. Beatty stood outside the Kennedy Center on Friday evening as workers prepared to take down the name. "No more stalling. It's time for Trump to obey the law," she said in a post on X. Her attorney, Norman Eisen, told TIME Magazine that the ruling meant "the protection of a memorial to a fallen president" and "the restoration of the building for artists and audiences alike, who fled when Donald Trump's name was slapped on there."
Trump acknowledged the setback with a characteristically defiant statement: "I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into NEVER NEVER LAND." Earlier, he had suggested he would transfer the Kennedy Center to Congress, but later reversed course, saying he would stay on as chairman. The appeals court left open the possibility that his name could be restored if the government prevails in its broader appeal of Cooper's ruling.
Kennedy Center Executive Director Chris Matthew Flocka confirmed in a court filing obtained by Forbes that the organization "removed all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any other individual besides President Kennedy." The name had already been stripped from the center's website, email signatures, and marketing materials.
The facade remains hidden behind scaffolding and plastic sheeting as cleanup continues. The Department of Justice must file its next brief by June 29. For now, the Kennedy Center bears only the name of the fallen president it was built to honor — and the board that tried to change it has been forced to wait.
