A US judge on Friday ruled that the famed Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had been illegally renamed after President Donald Trump and that his name must be taken down.
A furious Trump reacted by saying that he was giving up control of the Washington arts venue, which he seized at the start of his second term last year by naming himself its chairman.
“The Court has concluded that the Board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump,” Judge Christopher Cooper ruled.
The arts venue in the heart of the US capital was named in honor of slain president John F. Kennedy. Last December, the center’s governing board, which Trump stacked with his allies, voted to rename itself the “Trump Kennedy Center.”
The Republican president’s name was soon added to the facade in large golden letters above that of Kennedy.
Cooper’s ruling stated that only Congress has the right to change the center’s name and gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump’s name from the facade and any materials linked to the venue.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the ruling said.
Cooper also issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations, which was due to start in July.
Trump lashed out at the judge and said he was washing his hands of the “dying” venue.
“We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND.'”
Trump’s lengthy post on the center came as the world was watching for a possible announcement on an Iran peace deal.
Since returning for a second term in January 2025, Trump has taken repeated measures to put his name and image in official spaces — an abrupt break with US political tradition.
The disbanded US Institute of Peace has been renamed after Trump and his face stares down from huge banners outside the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture.
The Trump administration is seeking to have his image on a $250 bill to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary since independence from Britain.
In another upending of tradition, Trump ordered the East Wing of the White House to be torn down — with little public warning or debate — to make way for what he says will be a huge ballroom.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
