Federal court is asked to block Kennedy Center from returning Trump’s name to building

Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and Kennedy Center ex officio member, urgently requested on Thursday that a federal court intervene to halt the Kennedy Center from restoring President Donald Trump’s name to the building. Earlier this month, the Trump-aligned board at the Kennedy Center voted to inscribe Trump's name on the venue's facade, with additional engravings planned if the Trump Kennedy Center Fund surpassed $100 million. The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center was also intended to be renamed in his honor.

The Kennedy Center has stated it will not engrave Trump's name on the building before September 8 to permit legal proceedings. Beatty's legal team, comprised of Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, contended that the board's actions constituted "clear violations" of a prior court order. The Trump-aligned board's resolution argued that the Kennedy Center "would be in financial ruin without President Trump's unique stature as both an unparalleled fundraiser and world-class developer."

Congress designated the performing arts center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy in 1964, limiting the board of trustees from turning the center into a memorial for any other individual or putting another person's name on the building's exterior. In May, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center unlawfully included Trump's name, commanding its removal.

The Kennedy Center's leaders complied in June but maintained scaffolding where Trump's name once stood, awaiting broader structural repairs.