{"id":474385,"date":"2026-05-30T07:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T07:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474385\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T07:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T07:48:10","slug":"us-judge-orders-removal-of-trumps-name-from-kennedy-center-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474385\/","title":{"rendered":"US judge orders removal of Trump\u2019s name from Kennedy Center \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A judge on Friday ordered the removal of US president Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s name from the Kennedy Center for \u200bthe Performing Arts, ruling that the famous Washington venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.<\/p>\n

US district judge Christopher Cooper in Washington directed the Trump administration to take down all physical signage bearing Trump\u2019s name and to eliminate any references to a \u201cTrump Kennedy Center\u201d from official materials \u200bwithin 14 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kennedy Center\u2019s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President [John F] Kennedy, and it cannot bear any \u2060other formal name or public memorial based on the Board\u2019s unilateral say-so,\u201d Cooper wrote. \u201cCongress gave the Kennedy Center \u200cits \u200cname, \u200band only Congress can change it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge said his decision \u201cdoes not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution \u2013 \u2060construction, closure, or otherwise \u2013 moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper ruled in \u200ba lawsuit brought by Ohio Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty, \u200ba member of the Kennedy Center\u2019s board by virtue of her position in Congress. Beatty in a statement after the ruling \u200csaid the \u201cKennedy Center is an institution that belongs \u200bto the American people, not to Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump on \u200bFriday posted on social media \u200bthat \u2060he would work \u200cwith \u200cCongress \u200bon transferring \u2060ownership \u200bof the \u200bKennedy \u200cCenter.<\/p>\n

He said he would turn over control of the Kennedy Center to Congress, appearing to retreat from his bid to close and renovate the venue after a federal judge blocked his plans.<\/p>\n

The center was previously governed by a bipartisan board of trustees, which Trump last year purged and filled with allies who installed him as the chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution,\u201d Trump posted on social media. The president said lawmakers \u201cwould have the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s \u2060plan to renovate the centre is part of \u2060a broader push by the \u200bRepublican leader to reshape Washington\u2019s monumental core. He also intends to erect a 76m arch and to build a large ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.<\/p>\n

Those efforts also face court challenges. A federal appeals court has allowed the Trump administration to move ahead with building the ballroom as it considers the case.<\/p>\n

Cooper\u2019s order also stops the Trump administration\u2019s planned two-year closure of the Kennedy building. The judge said his order does not prevent the Kennedy Center from carrying out planned capital repair work \u200cthat the record in the \u2060lawsuit \u201cdemonstrates is sorely needed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The board could still close the centre, Cooper wrote, \u201cshould it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beatty sued the Trump \u200cadministration in December, calling the renaming of the building \u201ca flagrant violation of the rule of law\u201d that \u201cflies in the face of our constitutional order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her \u200blawyers in a statement applauded Cooper\u2019s decision. \u201cThis is a powerful blow against the \u200bTrump administration\u2019s corruption,\u201d attorneys Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said.<\/p>\n

The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the late President John F Kennedy. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A judge on Friday ordered the removal of US president Donald Trump\u2019s name from the Kennedy Center for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[969,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-474385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}