A federal judge ruled that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts cannot honor President Donald Trump with an inscription on the building’s exterior.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper on Tuesday blocked the president’s hand-picked board from restoring his name after an earlier order forced its removal, reported the New York Times.
“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”
The ruling added: “Linguistic gymnastics cannot extricate the Kennedy Center’s Board from an operative judicial order or the governing statute it was designed to enforce. Until this Court or a higher one says otherwise, the Board may not implement those parts of its August 13, 2026 resolution that violate the order’s clear terms.”
The center’s board first added the president’s name to the building’s formal title in December, crediting him with securing $257 million for a renovation, but Cooper ruled in May that the renaming was unlawful, finding only Congress could authorize such a change, and ordered the letters removed. The center complied while appealing.
Last month, the board voted to restore Trump’s name in a different form, proposing an inscription reading “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” beneath the main signage. Cooper declined to rule on a separate proposed inscription, “endowed by The Trump Kennedy Center Fund,” since the center said it would not pursue that until an associated fund reaches $100 million.
Democratic lawmakers objected fiercely, including Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio board member suing the center, whose lawyers called the inscription effort a “breathtaking act of defiance.”
Kennedy Center officials and Justice Department lawyers had argued the inscription was essential to keeping Trump’s support, warning it would “cause donors to flee, financial contributions to dry up, and structural rehabilitation to stop.”
Beatty’s lawyers countered Trump was effectively “taking the center hostage.”
The institution has seen artist cancellations, falling attendance and donor withdrawals since Trump became chairman.
The board sought to work around a federal law barring “additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials” at the center. The case remains before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, with a possible path to the Supreme Court.
Cooper’s ruling came shortly before a board meeting where members are expected to consider closing the main building for two years, citing hazards including plaster that recently fell from the Grand Foyer ceiling during a storm.
A previous closure attempt was blocked after the court found board members had been “derelict” in reviewing the plan.
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