Judge Blocks Kennedy Center Board’s Attempt to Glorify Trump with Building Renaming
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A federal judge has once again stopped the Kennedy Center board’s brazen attempt to rewrite history by inscribing Donald Trump’s name on the iconic cultural institution, reaffirming that only President John F. Kennedy should be honored.
In a decisive move against the right-wing campaign to rewrite America’s cultural legacy, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., issued a new order Tuesday barring the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board from plastering Donald Trump’s name on the center’s main building or renaming its grounds. This ruling comes after a May injunction forced the removal of Trump’s name, which the board had audaciously added to the center’s official title and façade in December, disregarding both legal precedent and public sentiment.
Judge Christopher Cooper made it clear that any attempt to memorialize Trump at the Kennedy Center would violate not only the previous court order but also a congressional statute that rightfully limits the center’s honors to President John F. Kennedy. Cooper condemned the board’s resolution, stating it “bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted,” underscoring the board’s reckless disregard for the rule of law.
The board, under Trump’s influence, had plotted to add the inscription “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” beneath the center’s name and rename the grounds “The President Donald J. Trump Plaza,” with an extended deadline of Oct. 8. This blatant attempt to enshrine Trump’s divisive legacy in a space dedicated to unity and the arts was met with resistance from Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democratic board member, who requested the judge block the resolution, exposing it as a shameless effort to honor Trump’s so-called “future existential and unprecedented contributions.”
The Department of Justice, defending the board’s actions, argued that donor support was at risk if Trump’s name was not added. However, Judge Cooper found no evidence to support this claim, further dismantling the board’s justification. Cooper reaffirmed that the 1983 congressional amendment to the Kennedy Center’s founding law explicitly prohibits additional memorials or plaques in public areas, ensuring that the center remains a tribute solely to President John F. Kennedy, not a platform for right-wing revisionism.