The Kennedy Center missed its midnight deadline to remove Trump’s name from the performing arts venue and sought a 12-hour extension, citing severe weather, but two courts rejected the last-minute request on Friday as crews prepared to begin the removal work.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ordered the Kennedy Center to strip all references to Trump from the building’s exterior, website, and official materials by the end of Friday, June 12. In his May 29 ruling, Cooper determined that Congress alone has the authority to change the center’s name, which was established by federal statute as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964.
The Kennedy Center’s board, which Trump chairs, appealed the ruling and requested a stay of the order. When that failed, the board filed an emergency motion late Friday night seeking to push the deadline to noon Saturday, claiming that thunderstorms made it unsafe for crews to work on the building’s exterior. Both the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the request within hours.
The board had voted unanimously in December 2025 to rename the center the “Trump Kennedy Center,” a decision that immediately drew legal challenge from Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio board member. Cooper’s ruling found that the board had overstepped its statutory authority by attempting an unilateral name change without congressional action. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote in his 94-page decision.
By late Friday evening, crews had set up scaffolding outside the Kennedy Center and begun preparing to remove Trump’s name from the building’s facade. The center had already removed references to Trump from its website, documents, and official branding in the days leading up to the deadline.
The case marks a legal clash over the control of a federally chartered institution. The Kennedy Center, established by Congress and named for the late President John F. Kennedy, receives federal appropriations and operates under statutory constraints that limit who can authorize changes to its official designation. Trump’s administration had appealed the ruling, but the appeals court upheld Cooper’s decision, leaving the center with few options other than compliance.
Sources
- The New York Times — Kennedy Center’s extension request and court denials
- The Wall Street Journal — Kennedy Center missed deadline, sought extension
- The Washington Post — Courts denied Kennedy Center’s last-ditch motion to delay removal
- CNN — Kennedy Center misses judge’s deadline and asks for more time
- Reuters — Trump appeals court order to strip his name from Kennedy Center
- NBC News — Judge temporarily halts Kennedy Center closure and orders Trump name removed
- BBC — Judge orders Trump’s name be removed from Kennedy Center
- Washingtonian — Why Trump’s name is still on the Kennedy Center; December 2025 board vote timeline
