Workers began removing Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington early Saturday after the institution missed a court-ordered midnight deadline and asked for more time, saying thunderstorms had delayed the job.
In its late filing, the center said the removal work was already underway and expected to finish in the early hours of the morning.
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🇺🇸 Removal of Trump's name from the "Kennedy Center" in Washington
— RusWar (@ruswar) June 13, 2026
By court order, Donald Trump's name was removed from the facade of the "Kennedy Center" in Washington. The judge announced that changing the name of this historic building is not possible without Congress's… pic.twitter.com/Qa2BX0kB0D
The matter of who may christen the hall
The dispute stems from a May 29 ruling by US District Judge Christopher Cooper, who held that only Congress can rename the venue, which opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
Cooper ordered Trump’s name removed from the facade, website and other materials within 14 days, and also blocked a planned two-year closure for renovations that had been set to begin in July.
A bench unimpressed by the latest gambit
The Kennedy Center board, chaired by Trump, had voted in December to rename the building the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and his name was quickly added to the exterior.
In rejecting the center’s bid to pause the order, Cooper said the board had not shown that its appeal was likely to succeed and wrote that the “convenient reframing is too cute by half.”
The Justice Department argued in its filing that “It does not make sense to alter the Center’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal,” while lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty said the request to delay compliance “grasps at straws.”
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🇺🇸 Workers are physically pulling Trump's name off the Kennedy Center
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 12, 2026
A judge blocked the rebrand, the appeals court refused to pause it, and the letters are coming down.
Congress created this memorial in 1964, and only Congress can rename it. The board never had the authority… https://t.co/ciDtzNFBYC
The final act begins beneath the scaffolding
AP reported that workers erected scaffolding on Friday and that by early Saturday they were removing letters from the sign, as people gathered outside the center and chanted “take it down.”
Beatty, the Ohio Democrat who filed the lawsuit challenging the renaming, was also seen at the plaza.
The Kennedy Center has already told staff to update email signatures, letterhead and other documents, and its website has dropped Trump’s name.
FAQs
Q1: Why is Donald Trump’s name being removed from the Kennedy Center?
Ans: A court ruled that only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center, making the board-approved name change invalid.
Q2: Has the Kennedy Center completed the removal of Trump’s name?
Ans: Workers began removing signage after the court deadline, and the center said the process was expected to be completed overnight.
