A federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center from closing for planned repairs beginning July 4 and ruled that the performing arts venue cannot formally carry President Donald Trump’s name without congressional approval.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts from shutting down for a planned two-year renovation project and ordered President Donald Trump’s name removed from the institution’s formal title.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the preliminary injunction after finding that the board’s decision to close the center for two years beginning July 4 was not justified under the process used by trustees, NBC News reported.
Cooper wrote that the trustees “might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways,” but said the approach used to approve the extended shutdown “was not one.”
The judge said his order does not stop the Kennedy Center from proceeding with capital repair work that has already been planned, describing the work as “sorely needed.” The ruling also leaves open the possibility that the board could later decide to close the venue if trustees independently reconsider the issue while weighing their obligations to the center, according to the outlet.
Trump criticized the ruling in a Truth Social post, saying the facility had been scheduled for major renovation work after years of problems and that his administration would work with Congress to transfer the center back to lawmakers so they could decide its future.
“Shockingly, a Judge appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, Christopher Cooper, ruled that The Kennedy Center, which was going to close in early July for largescale renovations and construction due to years of neglect, decay, and poor maintenance, and which was to be transformed by the Trump Administration into the Finest Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World, is not allowed to close for these renovations, which would not be possible to properly do without such a closure,” Trump said.
Trump’s post was also shared through an embedded Truth Social post.
The dispute followed reports about conditions inside the venue. In April, Breitbart News’s Olivia Rondeau reported that Matt Floca, director of the Trump Kennedy Center, led reporters through areas of the building typically unseen by patrons.
The report said photos shown to the press documented water damage in an electrical vault room and damage to the vaults. Reporters were also told that elevators at the center were outdated and operated by decades-old computer systems that required replacement and repair. The condition of the building was also highlighted in an embedded post.
In a 94-page ruling addressing the name change, Cooper said the board lacked authority to formally rename the performing arts center.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote.
“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,” the judge said.
The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted unanimously in December to add Trump’s name to the center.