Judge blocks Trump name, halts Kennedy Center closure

Judge blocks – A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and stopped the administration from closing the performing arts venue for major renovations. Trump said he is stepping back and returning control of the i

The board’s plan to close the John F. Kennedy Center for major renovations was already on the calendar when a federal judge stepped in—stopping the shutdown and ordering Trump’s name removed from the building.

In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington. D.C. said the Kennedy Center board’s March 16 vote to close the facility was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” and found it did not reflect the board’s legal obligations. Cooper also concluded that the trustees “overstepped its statutory bounds” by unilaterally adding President Donald Trump’s name to the center. saying Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress can change it.

Cooper ordered the defendants to remove Trump’s name from the institution’s façade and any “official materials. ” including digital or physical signs. within two weeks. “May the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts be renamed absent Congressional authorization?. The answer, plain from the face of the statute, is no. Nor can any other individual be memorialized on the front portico of the building,” Cooper wrote.

Hours after the decision, Trump responded on Truth Social, calling the judge “ashamed of himself.” In a separate post, Trump said he is backing away from his proposed renovation and returning control of the arts institution to Congress.

“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump wrote.

The administration had announced the work would begin in July and last approximately two years, but Cooper’s ruling halts those plans for now.

The Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations. Roma Daravi. said the institution is confident it will prevail on appeal. Daravi said the board’s decision to recognize Trump’s “historic contributions” would be reviewed “carefully. ” adding that the center still requires “urgent and significant restoration.”.

Daravi pointed to “$257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress,” saying the resources are in place and the center plans to pursue “every lawful avenue” to restore what she called the “Trump Kennedy Center.”

Cooper’s decision came after hearings in late April for parallel lawsuits challenging the project. One case was filed by a group of cultural and historic preservation organizations. The other was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board. Cooper ruled in favor of Beatty’s request but rejected the other challenge.

Beatty called Friday’s ruling a win for the Kennedy Center and the performing arts. “Now hopefully people can come back to work, we can continue to be the Kennedy Center that we were intended to be,” Beatty said.

The Justice Department argued that renovation plans for the building are limited in scope and within the board’s authority without outside approvals, according to the positions presented in court.

For the plaintiffs. the concern is not just the timing of a closure. but whether the work will be constrained enough to protect the building’s historic fabric. In court hearings described in the case record. attorneys for Beatty and for the preservation groups raised doubts about what they viewed as the limited scope of the project. pointing to Trump’s statements that he would “fully expose” the building’s steel skeleton.

Beatty has also said she was “very fearful that we’ll see what happened with the East Wing and what happened with the Rose Garden” if the center is closed and renovations are allowed to proceed without sufficient supervision—references to major changes Trump made at the White House.

Even as the fight moved through court. the Kennedy Center has been operating on a slower schedule ahead of the planned closure. Trump has taken a keen interest in the institution’s operations since returning to the White House last year. He installed a handpicked board that named him chairman. and his name was added to the façade of a building described as a living monument to Kennedy.

Kennedy Center officials have said the venue still needs large-scale repair. Mike Floca. the center’s executive director and chief operating officer. spent several weeks during the spring walking a bipartisan group of lawmakers and their staffs. along with journalists and Washington city officials. through the expansive building spanning 1.5 million square feet. The tours were meant to show that the Kennedy Center. which began construction in 1965. was in genuine need of an overhaul.

Those walkthroughs showed severe water damage, with discoloration and pooling in some areas. Equipment including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building are decades old and in need of replacement. Floca told reporters in April that he considered doing repairs individually but insisted it was his recommendation to Trump to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.

As the court battle continues, performances have not stopped entirely. Trump attended the premiere of the musical “Chicago” in March. Other shows, including “Moulin Rouge,” are slated for June.

One major event scheduled for the pre-closure stretch was the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which Bill Maher is expected to receive on June 28—an appearance anticipated to be among the final big moments at the Kennedy Center before the planned shutdown.

Trump’s broader pattern of reshaping Washington landmarks has followed him into this fight. He demolished the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. His name or image has been added to government buildings, including the U.S. Institute of Peace and Justice Department headquarters. He is also pushing for a triumphal arch overlooking the Potomac River.

Opponents of other Trump construction projects have challenged elements of those efforts in court and, in some cases, secured favorable rulings. Still, district court judges are not necessarily the last word, and the administration appears poised to pursue appeals.

For now, Cooper’s decision has changed the immediate future: the planned closure for renovations is paused, and Trump’s name must come down from the Kennedy Center’s front—at least until the legal fight is settled at the next level.

Kennedy Center Trump name Christopher Cooper board vote March 16 renovation closure Truth Social Congress Joyce Beatty preservation lawsuit