By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-05-29 19:55:34 | Updated at 2026-06-07 15:23:38
1 week ago
A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has banned President Donald Trump from adding his name to the Kennedy Center.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled Friday that the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center Board's decision to add the President's name to the performing arts center was unlawful.
Trump was sued by Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, who has standing in the case because she serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, as a member of Congress.
'The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so,' Cooper wrote.
'Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,' he added.
Cooper also ruled that Trump could not close the center for two years for renovations.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
Beatty's office didn't return a call.
Workers added President Donald Trump's name to the facade of the Kennedy Center in December
In December, Trump's handpicked Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the performing arts center 'The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.'
A day later, workers were seen adding new lettering to the building's historic mid-century facade.
That prompted outcry from members of the public and from the Kennedy family, as the arts center was intended to be a functioning memorial to President John F Kennedy.
Congress had dedicated the planned arts center to JFK in 1964, the year following the Democrat's assassination.
