Trump name to stay off Kennedy Center while appeal continues
A Washington appeals court denied a request to pause a lower-court order that found the renaming of the performing arts center unlawful.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
A federal appeals court in Washington has kept President Donald Trump’s name off the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while a legal challenge continues. The order leaves in place a lower-court ruling that found the center’s renaming unlawful, according to Al Jazeera, Reuters and The Associated Press.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday denied a request from the Trump administration and the Kennedy Center board of trustees to pause the earlier order. The decision means the building’s facade and signs will not carry Trump’s name during the appeal.
Trump’s name was removed from the Kennedy Center last month after US District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the change reversed. Cooper also blocked Trump’s plan to close the center for renovations, according to the report.
The dispute began after Trump took office in 2025 and replaced the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, Al Jazeera reported. The new board later made Trump its chairman and changed the institution’s name to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member, brought the lawsuit challenging the renaming. After Wednesday’s appeals court ruling, Beatty said in a statement that the decision again confirmed that the administration’s effort to rename the center was unlawful.
“His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people,” Beatty said.
The three-judge panel said the board did not show that keeping Trump’s name off the building during the appeal would cause irreparable harm. The board argued that removing the name could hurt fundraising, but the judges said that claim lacked “specific facts or evidence,” according to the ruling cited by Al Jazeera.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press.
The ruling is another loss for the board in its attempt to preserve the Trump name on one of Washington’s best-known cultural institutions. The Kennedy Center was established as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy and serves as a major performing arts venue in the capital.
The legal fight will continue, but the appeals court’s order keeps the lower-court decision in force for now. That leaves the center operating under its prior name while the challenge to the renaming works through the courts.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.