Nicolai Haugsted
Trump pushes ahead with Kennedy Center tribute despite judges blocking his name before.
Donald Trump’s name could soon return to one of Washington’s most prominent cultural landmarks, despite a federal judge previously ruling that the Kennedy Center cannot simply be renamed by its board.
According to Reuters, board members at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Thursday to place Trump’s name on the building as part of language crediting him with its restoration and renovation, according to Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty.
The decision potentially opens another chapter in a legal dispute that has already resulted in Trump’s name being removed from the building once.
Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, said members approved a new inscription for the building’s facade.
According to her account, the proposed wording would read: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”
Board members also voted to call the physical site “the President Donald J. Trump Plaza,” Beatty said.
Another source familiar with the meeting confirmed the board’s decision, while the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times separately reported that the board passed a resolution expressing its desire to honor what it described as Trump’s “existential and unprecedented contributions to the survival of the center by all legal means.”
Trump appointees currently dominate the institution’s board.
White House praises Trump’s role
The White House welcomed the latest move and credited the president with improving the cultural institution.
“Under President Trump’s bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world,” White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston said.
Thursday’s vote follows months of legal conflict over whether the board possesses the authority to attach Trump’s name to a venue formally dedicated to President John F. Kennedy.
Trump’s administration added his name to the Kennedy Center facade in December. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered its removal in May, finding that changing the institution’s formal name requires congressional action.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote.
Workers subsequently removed Trump’s name in June.
The administration attempted to keep Trump’s name displayed while pursuing its legal challenge, but a federal appeals court rejected that request in July.
Government lawyers had argued that removing the president’s name could damage fundraising efforts and further weaken the Kennedy Center’s finances. Appeals judges found that the administration had not provided sufficiently specific evidence to substantiate those claims.
Thursday’s resolution appears designed differently from the earlier attempt by retaining the Kennedy Center’s existing name while adding language crediting Trump for restoration and renovation. Whether that distinction can survive the existing legal restrictions could become another question for the courts.
Two-year closure also approved
Board members made another consequential decision during Thursday’s meeting, according to Beatty.
Members voted to close the Kennedy Center for two years, a proposal tied to planned renovation work. Beatty has sued both the Trump administration and the center over the naming dispute and proposed closure.
Judge Cooper previously noted that the board enjoys broad authority over operational matters and could potentially approve a temporary renovation closure through a valid vote.
Legal restrictions surrounding the building’s name are considerably clearer under his ruling. Congress established the institution as a memorial to Kennedy, and the administration has so far failed in its attempts to overturn the decision preventing Trump’s name from becoming part of its formal identity.
