A federal judge barred the Kennedy Center from adding President Donald Trump’s name to its building or grounds without congressional approval as its leadership warned the performing arts institution could soon be unable to meet payroll and maintenance costs.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Kennedy Center from placing President Donald Trump’s name on its facade or elsewhere on its grounds, rejecting the board’s latest attempt to recognize the president as the institution simultaneously confronts severe financial and structural problems.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the board of trustees does not have authority on its own to establish a new presidential memorial at the federally chartered performing arts center, which Congress designated as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote in the decision reported by The New York Times.
The ruling prevents the board from adding an inscription honoring Trump to the building and from renaming the surrounding campus “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” The board had approved both concepts in August as alternatives following an earlier court order requiring Trump’s name to be removed from the center.
Federal law establishes the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the National Center for the Performing Arts and “a living memorial to John Fitzgerald Kennedy.” Congress has separately designated it as the sole national memorial to Kennedy in Washington and its environs.
The latest ruling follows months of litigation over Trump’s efforts to reshape the institution.
After returning to office, Trump replaced numerous Kennedy Center trustees with his own appointees and was elected chairman of the board. In December 2025, the board voted to alter the center’s name, and Trump’s name was subsequently installed on the facade.
Cooper ruled in May that the renaming exceeded the board’s legal authority and ordered Trump’s name removed. Workers took the lettering down in June, leaving scaffolding and a covering over part of the building. The judge also blocked an earlier plan to close the center for renovations, finding that the board had not sufficiently considered the consequences of shutting down the institution.
The board returned in August with a different proposal that would preserve the Kennedy Center’s formal name while adding language crediting Trump for restoration work.
One version approved by trustees would have read: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”
The plan also contemplated a separate inscription recognizing a proposed Trump Kennedy Center Fund if it raised $100 million.
Cooper concluded that changing the wording did not resolve the underlying legal problem.
His ruling came as the Kennedy Center’s current leadership warned trustees that the institution may be approaching a financial crisis.
A draft resolution circulated before Tuesday’s board meeting said the center is in such poor financial condition that it could be unable to meet payroll or routine maintenance obligations “within a matter of weeks.” The board argued that continued involvement by Trump — including his ability to raise money for the institution — was critical to preventing financial collapse.
“The Board understands that without such appropriate recognition it is unlikely that President Trump will provide the fundamental oversight of the renovation of the main building and lead the fiscal rescue of the Center,” the draft resolution said.
Documents circulated to trustees warned of “certain fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy unless new funding could be secured.
The center projected substantially lower revenue than previously expected and has suffered from declining ticket sales, canceled performances and the departure or relocation of major artistic organizations amid the leadership changes and political controversy surrounding the institution.
The Washington National Opera severed its longtime affiliation with the Kennedy Center earlier this year, while other artists and productions canceled appearances after Trump assumed control of the board. The National Symphony Orchestra also has had to plan for performances outside the main building amid uncertainty over renovations.
The institution is confronting physical problems as well.
A large portion of the ceiling in the Kennedy Center’s Grand Foyer fell Sept. 4 during heavy rain, scattering debris across an area normally used by patrons traveling among the Opera House, Concert Hall and Eisenhower Theater.
No one was injured, but the incident renewed calls from Trump and Kennedy Center officials for extensive repairs.
Trump said Tuesday that the center is “in a virtual state of collapse” and argued that the building needs to close so major reconstruction can proceed.
“The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have,” Trump said while arguing for the renovation effort. “I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!”
Trump separately said a “large piece of concrete and steel” had fallen from a hallway ceiling and argued that people could have been killed had the area been occupied at the time.
The board was preparing Tuesday to consider whether to close the main building for approximately two years to complete renovations.
Justice Department lawyers representing the Kennedy Center told the court that the meeting would focus on what they described as “recently exacerbated structural emergencies,” rather than immediately proceeding with another Trump-name proposal.
The board’s claims about the urgency of a full shutdown have also been disputed.
Attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who brought the lawsuit challenging the renaming, have argued that engineering materials cited by Kennedy Center officials do not establish that the entire building is unsafe or requires immediate closure.
Beatty sits on the board by virtue of her congressional position and has argued that only Congress can alter the identity of an institution established by federal law as the Kennedy memorial.
Separate efforts have also been made to attach the Trump family name to portions of the center through Congress.
In July 2025, the House Appropriations Committee approved language proposed by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, that would designate the Kennedy Center Opera House as the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.” That proposal came through congressional legislation rather than a Kennedy Center board vote and would require the necessary legislative approvals to become law.
Tuesday’s decision therefore leaves two distinct questions surrounding the Kennedy Center.
One is financial and structural: whether the institution requires an extended closure and major reconstruction to address deterioration while avoiding insolvency.
The other is legal: whether Trump or the Kennedy Center’s trustees can place his name on an institution Congress specifically created as the national memorial to John F. Kennedy.
Cooper’s ruling answers the latter, at least for now.
The board may seek recognition for Trump through Congress, but it cannot unilaterally create a Trump memorial, place his name back on the facade or rename the grounds in his honor while the current court order remains in force.
The Kennedy Center’s financial problems, however, remain unresolved.
Its leadership says it could face difficulty meeting basic expenses within weeks and contends that Trump’s fundraising assistance is central to its survival. Trump maintains that major renovations are urgently needed after years of deterioration.
The judge’s decision means those financial and structural problems will have to be addressed without conditioning the immediate rescue of the institution on putting Trump’s name back on the Kennedy Center.
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