A legal battle over Donald Trump’s name on Washington’s Kennedy Center has returned to federal court, with a judge considering whether the performing arts institution can proceed with a new inscription honoring the president.
During a hearing, an attorney representing Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to once again prevent the Kennedy Center from placing Trump’s name on its exterior.
The dispute centers on the building’s legal name and whether the center’s board has the authority to alter it. Congress established the institution as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Cooper ruled in May that Trump’s name had to be removed from the building, concluding that Congress had established the Kennedy Center’s name and that changing it was a matter for lawmakers.
The center removed Trump’s name from the facade in June. Since then, a large tarp has covered the affected portion of the building.
But the dispute flared again after the Kennedy Center board voted on August 13 to change the wording on the building. The proposed inscription would identify it as the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump.” The board also voted to name the surrounding grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
Beatty’s attorney Nathaniel Zelinsky argued that the move amounted to a direct challenge to the court’s previous order.
The Trump administration takes a different view. It has argued that the new wording does not actually rename the institution because “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” would remain part of the inscription. According to the administration, the additional language merely recognizes Trump’s role in the center’s restoration.
“There is no renaming here,” Justice Department attorney Brantley Mayers told the court.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was appointed by Trump to help oversee the Kennedy Center, defended the board’s decision before the hearing. He said the measure had received overwhelming support from board members and praised Trump’s involvement in the renovation effort.
The administration has also pointed to an ambitious plan to close the center for two years while major renovations are carried out. In court filings, officials argued that the building faces serious deterioration and warned that without extensive work it could eventually become unsafe.
Cooper pushed back against claims that his involvement in the naming dispute was preventing necessary repairs. He said his earlier order did not stop the administration from carrying out work required to maintain the facility.
The judge said it was unfair to suggest that continued court oversight was standing in the way of essential repairs.
The administration has agreed not to add Trump’s name to the building for now. It told the court that it would wait until October 8 before taking any such action, giving Cooper additional time to consider the dispute.
For now, the Kennedy Center’s facade remains caught between two competing visions: one preserving the name Congress gave the institution and another seeking to permanently attach Trump’s name to the building’s story.
