The battle for the name of the Kennedy Center building took another turn on Wednesday as the board reversed an earlier decision it had made earlier this month.
The Kennedy Center’s board informed a federal court it would not seek to restore the name of President Donald Trump to the building despite an earlier pledge to do so. The decision not to restore Trump’s name comes less than a week after the board voted to do exactly that.
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The board specified it would not make any changes until after the Labor Day holiday, citing Sept. 8, “at the earliest,” to permit those challenging the building’s name in court to gather the necessary legal documents and information, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board and plaintiff in the federal lawsuit opposing the inclusion of Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center building, urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper for an expedited decision. Beatty expressed concerns that the board would take swift action to proceed with the renaming shortly after Sept. 8. September 8.”
“There is thus every reason to believe that Defendants will attempt to effectuate some or part of this latest unlawful resolution at the earliest opportunity after September 8,” lawyers representing Beatty asserted.
In December 2025, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to officially change the name of the venue from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Trump-Kennedy Center. In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama-appointed judge, ordered the removal of Trump’s name on the facade after a lawsuit filed by Beatty, and the president’s name was removed in June.
KENNEDY CENTER BOARD VOTES TO RETURN TRUMP’S NAME TO VENUE’S FACADE
However, on August 13, the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted to proceed with putting Trump’s name on the building’s facade by adding an inscription that read, “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”
The most recent legal filings have indefinitely delayed that change from taking place.
