WASHINGTON — The board installed by President Donald Trump at the Kennedy Center is making a final push to keep his name on the front of the landmark performing arts complex ahead of a court deadline requiring it to be removed by Friday.
On Thursday, the board voted to seek a stay of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 decision, which found that Trump’s name had been added to the Kennedy Center unlawfully, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity. The formal request was submitted late Thursday.
In his ruling, Cooper said any change to the Kennedy Center’s name could only be made by Congress, and he ordered all references to Trump removed by Friday. He also barred the administration from shutting down the arts institution for a major renovation project that had been scheduled to begin in July and continue for two years.
The board’s latest move represents a change in direction from a June 4 memo sent to staff by the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel, which instructed employees to use only “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center” in email signatures, letterhead and other official materials.
Trump’s name has already been removed from the Kennedy Center’s website. An email sent earlier this week to members promoting ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony also came from the Kennedy Center without mentioning Trump in the venue’s name.
“The Trump administration’s 11th-hour gambit after waiting nearly two weeks evinces desperation,” Norm Eisen, a board member at Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement. “That is what they should be feeling because they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. We will be vigorously contesting this latest ploy as we have throughout the case on behalf of Congresswoman Beatty and the American people.”
They represent Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board who filed the lawsuit seeking to remove Trump’s name from the institution.
After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees that named him chairman. He brought in Richard Grenell to serve as president, a position he held until March when Matt Floca assumed the role.
The center’s lineup has included more Trump-friendly programming, serving as the venue for events such as the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, “Melania.”
The board also announced it had renamed the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress, and physically added the president’s name to the building’s facade.
The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense. Actor Issa Rae, musician Bela Fleck and author Louise Penny were among the numerous artists who withdrew from appearances, while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned. Earlier this month, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
In addition to voting on the stay on Thursday, the board backed a resolution recognizing Trump’s “commitment to uphold this cherished American institution.”
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
