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Crews Remove Trump's Name From Kennedy Center Facade After Judge Denies Last-Minute Stay
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Construction crews at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts met a strict court-ordered deadline on Friday morning, erecting scaffolding to systematically strip President Donald Trump’s name from the iconic building’s exterior facade. The active removal follows a high-stakes legal battle that culminated when U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper firmly denied an eleventh-hour request from the center's Trump-appointed Board of Trustees to pause the order.
The contentious national dispute traces back to February 2025, shortly after President Trump took office for his second term. In an unprecedented move, Trump ousted the institution's existing leadership, appointed himself board chairman, and purged 18 sitting trustees to establish a loyalist majority. By December 2025, this hand-picked board voted to add Trump’s name to the official title and exterior facade of the historic national monument. The aggressive renaming prompted a swift federal lawsuit from Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio board member who argued the board completely overstepped its statutory bounds.
In a sweeping 94-page ruling issued on May 29, 2026, Judge Cooper sided heavily with Rep. Beatty, declaring that only Congress holds the explicit legal authority to alter the name of a congressionally designated living memorial.
The federal judge ordered the administration to scrub Trump's name from all physical signage, digital platforms, and corporate letterheads by Friday, June 12. Additionally, the court permanently halted a controversial two-year total closure of the arts complex that the Trump-led board had scheduled to begin this summer under the guise of facility renovations.
While Kennedy Center administrators quietly complied with digital compliance measures earlier this week—scrubbing the president's name from the official website and ticketing materials—the Board of Trustees launched a frantic appeal on Thursday night to preserve the primary entryway signage. In a defiant response posted to Truth Social, President Trump blasted the judicial intervention, claiming the performing arts complex remains in desperate disrepair and accusing the presiding judge’s wife of being politically motivated.
Despite the administration's ongoing efforts to push the case to a D.C. appeals court, Judge Cooper's refusal to grant a stay forced crews to immediately dismantle the exterior lettering. Onlookers and tourists gathered on the plaza outside the complex on Friday afternoon, cheering and taking photos as the short-lived "Trump" branding was formally expunged from the nation's premier cultural center, restoring its sole designation as a monument to President John F. Kennedy.
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By: NBC Palm Springs
June 12, 2026
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