Kennedy Center board says it won’t try to immediately restore Trump’s name

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkA tarp has obstructed the front of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, since US President Donald Trump's name was removed in June [File: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA]By Evan SemonesPublished On 19 Aug 202619 Aug 2026The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the United States has announced it will not attempt to immediately reinscribe President Donald Trump’s name at the historic venue.In a joint court filing on Tuesday, the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees indicated it had “committed” to not taking further action before September 8, as legal arguments unfold.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US court rules that Trump’s name must stay off Kennedy Center during appeallist 2 of 3Whistleblower claims Kennedy Center ‘rushed’ renovations to please Trumplist 3 of 3Kennedy Center votes to restore Trump’s name to venue, close for two yearsend of listBut critics warned the cut-off date, roughly three weeks away, was a pretext for the board to make further changes to the cultural centre, located in the heart of Washington, DC.“To be clear: This fire drill is entirely of Defendants’ making,” the plaintiffs in the case wrote, referencing the deadline.The changes to the Kennedy Center under Trump have been the subject of a long-running legal battle.Since the start of Trump’s second term in 2025, his largely self-appointed board has pushed to increase the president’s influence over the arts venue, including by naming him as chairman.Last December, it voted to affix Trump’s name to the building, in what many saw as a violation of the congressional act designating the theatre complex a living memorial to former US President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.Amid the controversy, Trump announced in February he would close the building for two years of renovations.The decisions sparked a lawsuit, with Joyce Beatty, a Democratic lawmaker who sits on the venue’s board, accusing the board of violating the laws that govern the Kennedy Center.In May, a federal judge ordered Trump’s name to be removed from the building’s facade, ruling that only Congress had the power to change what the venue is called.But last week, the Kennedy Center’s board again attempted to include the president’s name on the building.It voted 20-3 to inscribe the phrase “restored and renovated by President Donald J Trump” beneath the existing signage, as well as name the plaza in front of the theatre complex after Trump.In Tuesday’s filing, lawyers for Beatty wrote that some of the board’s members “seem intent on defying the Court’s decision” from May.“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,” the lawyers wrote.Lawyers for the Trump administration said in the filing they disagreed with those arguments, writing that “the record will demonstrate the Board’s prudence”.Since work began to remove Trump’s name from the building, a tarp and scaffolding have obscured the area where the letters were once installed.The Kennedy Center made no commitment to uncover the area where Trump’s name once was. In the latest court documents, the board argued the covering was necessary for “water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang”.“The protective barrier around the scaffolding was and is a necessary element of the ongoing construction activities at the Center,” lawyers for Trump and the board wrote in the filing.“During the removal of the name, it served as a safety barrier for ongoing construction activities and helped safeguard the marble facade of the building in light of reported panel damage.”Beatty’s lawyers, however, characterised this rationale as an admission from the government that the venue’s “historic marble” has been damaged, possibly while Trump’s name was added and removed.“Adding another inscription or inscriptions, in naked defiance of this Court’s ruling, obviously could do further damage,” her lawyers wrote.“The latest renaming resolution is a breathtaking act of defiance,” they added.Beatty’s lawsuit is part of a litany of legal entanglements that have consumed the historic arts venue since Trump returned to the White House.Last week, a judge awarded jazz musician Chuck Redd more than $250,000 to cover his legal fees, after the Kennedy Center sued him for cancelling his performance over its Trump rebrand. The case was dismissed in June.