Kennedy Center tells court it won't try to restore Trump's name to the
building before Sept. 8
[August 20, 2026]
By STEVEN SLOAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center has told a federal court that it
would not attempt to return President Donald Trump's name to the
building's facade before at least Sept. 8 as another legal battle over
the performing arts venue's future takes shape.
In a status report filed late Tuesday, opponents of the move said
members of the Kennedy Center's Trump-aligned board “seem intent” on
defying an earlier court order requiring the Republican president's name
to be removed from the building. The Kennedy Center said it would not
move forward with the plans until after Labor Day “at the earliest” to
allow time for legal arguments.
Lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is an ex officio
member of the board, pressed U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper for
an earlier ruling, arguing there is “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."
A board meeting this month that was expected to largely focus on options
to close the Kennedy Center for renovations instead transformed into
another push to attach Trump's name to the building, part of a broader
move by the president and his supporters to leave a physical mark on the
nation's capital.
The board passed a resolution to name the plaza in front of the building
after Trump and add his name to the venue's facade so it would read “The
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By
President Donald J. Trump.” In the filing, Beatty said the board also
agreed to add an additional reference to the president if the Trump
Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million.
In that event, the facade would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump
Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The board also voted to back a two-year closure for renovations, while
some of the institution's signature programming, including the Kennedy
Center Honors and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, would take
place at off-site locations. The National Symphony Orchestra announced
this week it would split its upcoming season between six venues in and
around Washington.
Cooper ruled in May that letters affixed to the building spelling out
Trump’s name were added illegally and he ordered their removal, a
decision that the administration failed to persuade courts to overturn.
Since then, a tarp has covered the area where the letters were once
installed, frustrating those who sought to remove the president's name
from the building.
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Kennedy Center makes no commitment to removing tarp
In the latest filing, the Kennedy Center made no commitment to
remove the tarp, saying the covering was in place to facilitate the
removal of Trump's name and is part of a broader system needed for
“water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.”
More broadly, Beatty's lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky,
questioned the integrity of the board's vote this month, echoing
concerns Cooper raised when he called a March vote to shutter the
building “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”
Heading into the August meeting, the Kennedy Center's management
said it would provide the board with three options, including a
complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some
continued public access and limited programming in spaces
unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly
limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most
serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full
slate of programming.”
In Tuesday's filing, the Kennedy Center said a Delta Consulting
Group analyst concluded that a partial closure that would play out
over four years “would increase the length and cost of construction
and lead to substantial safety concerns.”
The analyst "recommended that the Board proceed with a full closure
for two years, which would minimize total cost, minimize the amount
of time that programming would be subject to disruptions from
construction, and best preserve the Center’s reputation as
world-class performing-arts venue,” the Kennedy Center said.
Eisen and Zelinsky, however, noted that materials were provided to
the board just two days before the meeting. They said some documents
appeared to have been created before Cooper's May ruling and
referred to the Kennedy Center's closure that was initially set to
take effect on July 6.
The August vote to close the Kennedy Center, Beatty's lawyers
argued, “exhibits the same flaws as the first vote.”
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