A US federal appeals court has denied a request to restore President Donald Trump's name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, delivering another legal setback to the institution's board of trustees in a months-long dispute over the renaming of one of America's most prominent cultural venues.
The three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Wednesday that the board had "failed to show how they will be irreparably injured" if Trump's name remains off the building while the broader appeal proceeds. The board had argued that the removal of his name "threatens to impede" fundraising efforts, but the judges dismissed that claim for lacking "specific facts or evidence" to support it. Trump's name had been physically removed from the centre's facade and signage last month, following an order by US District Judge Christopher Cooper, who also blocked the administration's plans to close the building for renovations.
The dispute began earlier in 2025, when Trump — upon returning to the presidency — replaced the Kennedy Center's existing board of trustees, who promptly named him chairman. The centre's name was subsequently changed to "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." Named after President John F. Kennedy following his assassination in 1963, the centre on the banks of the Potomac River is a federally chartered institution and a national memorial, making any changes to its governance and identity subject to congressional oversight and legal scrutiny. Judge Cooper later ruled the name change illegal, setting off the ongoing court battle.
The lawsuit was brought by Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a Kennedy Center board member who welcomed Wednesday's ruling. "Today's ruling again affirms that this administration's efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful," Beatty said, adding that Trump's name "no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people." She also called on the administration to remove tarps that remain hung on scaffolding over the section of the building's marble facade from which Trump's name was taken down.
The case has drawn wide attention as part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration seeking to attach the president's name and personal brand to prominent national landmarks and institutions in Washington. With the appeal still pending before the DC Circuit, the legal saga is far from over — but for now, the Kennedy Center's facade remains as it stood before Trump's return to office.