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A federal judge ruled this Friday that the board of the Kennedy Center acted illegally by adding the name of President Donald Trump to the building, and blocked the administration's plans to close the iconic cultural venue in Washington D.C. for major renovations.
The ruling, issued by Judge Christopher Cooper, concludes that the board violated the law by approving the name change without the authorization of Congress, the only institution with the authority to alter the status of a national monument established by legislative law.
The Kennedy Center was designated by Congress in 1964 as a national monument in honor of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and hosts nearly 2,000 annual events in its venues, including a symphony hall for 2,500 people and an opera theater for 2,300.
In December 2025, the board —whose members were appointed by Trump in February of that year— approved changing the name of the institution to "The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." Four workers physically added Trump's name to the facade of the building on December 20, 2025.
The measure sparked a wave of protests. Several artists canceled their performances at the venue, including the jazz group The Cookers, the company Doug Varone and Dancers, and singer-songwriter Kristy Lee, who wrote on social media: "I cannot perform on a stage that is used for someone else's ego."
The Kennedy family also condemned the decision. Joe Kennedy III warned that "a memorial cannot be renamed, just as the Lincoln Memorial cannot be altered."
Richard Grenell, president of the center appointed by Trump, dismissed the cancellations by artists, describing them as "a form of derangement syndrome" and "expensive intolerance," and threatened with lawsuits for breach of contract.
The Democratic congresswoman Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit in December 2025, describing the name change as "an act typical of authoritarian regimes." Her lawsuit argues that only Congress has the authority to change the name or close the center.
In March 2026, Trump announced the closure of the Kennedy Center starting from July 4, 2026 for renovations lasting approximately two years. A federal court issued a temporary restraining order that same month requiring the government to release key documents concerning the closure process.
The court documents revealed that there was no genuine expert review, no significant external consultations, nor adequate basis to justify the closure. The lawsuit alleges that the trustees violated their fiduciary duties by simply ratifying Trump's decision without independent evaluation.
Friday's ruling represents the most significant judicial blow to date against the administration's attempts to reshape the country's most important cultural institution, leaving the future of the announced renovations in limbo.
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