Trump’s name was added to the building last December.
Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP
A US judge has ruled that the famed Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has been illegally renamed after President Donald Trump and his name must be taken down.
“The court has concluded that the board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump,” Judge Christopher Cooper ruled.
The arts venue in the heart of Washington DC was named in honour of slain president John F Kennedy. Last December, the centre’s governing board, which is stacked with Trump allies, voted to rename itself the ‘Trump Kennedy Center’.
The Republican president’s name was soon added to the facade in large golden letters, above that of Kennedy.
Cooper’s ruling stated that only Congress had the right to change the centre’s name, and gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump’s name from the facade and any materials linked to the venue.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress can change it,” he said.
Cooper also issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations.
Since returning for a second term in January 2025, Trump has taken repeated measures to put his name and image in official spaces in an abrupt break with US political tradition.
The disbanded US Institute of Peace has been renamed after Trump, and his face stares down from huge banners outside the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture.
The Trump administration is seeking to have his image on a $250 bill to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary since independence from the British Empire.
In another upending of tradition, Trump ordered the East Wing of the White House torn down – with little public warning or debate – to make way for what he said would be a huge ballroom.
– AFP