The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. has voted to restore President Donald Trump's name to the iconic white-marble building, following a lengthy meeting that ended with a decision critics say is designed to circumvent a federal court ruling. The new inscription would read: "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump," placing Trump's name beneath the institution's official title rather than alongside it.
The Kennedy Center, a landmark performing arts venue on the banks of the Potomac River, has been at the centre of a prolonged legal and political dispute over naming rights. Late last year, construction workers affixed the words "The Donald J. Trump and" in large black letters to the building's facade, briefly renaming it the Trump Kennedy Center. A federal judge ruled the change illegal, citing a 1964 law that enshrined the name of assassinated President John F. Kennedy and requires an act of Congress to alter. Trump's name was removed from the building two months ago following that ruling, which also struck down related branding in the centre's printed materials. Trump responded furiously at the time, threatening to return control of the institution to Congress.
Earlier in his second term, Trump replaced much of the centre's board with loyalists, citing what he described as an excessively "woke" institutional culture, and assumed the chairmanship himself. The board, now composed largely of Trump allies, also voted to close the centre for roughly two years for extensive renovations — a plan the same federal court had previously blocked. Under its legal charter, the Kennedy Center is required to maintain a minimum level of programming at all times.
Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who sits on the board in an ex-officio capacity and filed the original lawsuit that led to Trump's name being removed, condemned the decision in a statement. "This latest development is a blatant attempt to circumvent the court's ruling and flies in the face of laws passed by Congress," she said, adding that she would "continue to fight for this cherished national monument." Reports also indicate the plaza in front of the building may be renamed in Trump's honour. Whether the president himself pushed for the reversal remains unclear.
The dispute is likely to return to the courts. Legal experts and critics argue that reframing Trump's name as a renovation credit rather than a co-namesake does not resolve the underlying constitutional and statutory questions the judge had identified. The episode underscores a broader tension in Washington over the use of federal cultural institutions as vehicles for political branding, with the outcome potentially setting a precedent for how naming rights at federally chartered venues can be contested and enforced.