Court Order Ends Trump Name Fight At Kennedy Center
Work crews removed President Donald Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts early Saturday morning, closing a long and highly public fight over whether the president’s name could be added to the historic Washington, D.C., venue.
The removal was completed around 3:10 a.m. EST, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline passed. Scaffolding had gone up earlier in the day as crews prepared to take down the letters from the building’s facade, but work appeared delayed for several hours.
The Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until Saturday, citing thunderstorms in the D.C. area. In a filing, the Center said removal work was already underway and would be finished in the early morning hours.
The judge denied the request, keeping the deadline in place.
Rep. Joyce Beatty Celebrates Removal
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member who sued to have Trump’s name removed, was seen near the Kennedy Center earlier Friday. After the letters came down, Beatty posted a celebratory video on Instagram, where she confirmed the removal despite a tarp covering the area.
“The letters, the name of Donald Trump is down,” Beatty said. “This is what it looks like when you fight for justice.”
Beatty also appeared to mark the moment by doing Trump’s signature dance in a separate video shared online.
Trump’s Kennedy Center Takeover Sparked Backlash
Trump largely ignored the Kennedy Center during his first term, but after returning to office in January 2025, he moved quickly to exert influence over the cultural institution. His administration ousted leadership and installed handpicked appointees to the board, including Trump himself.
The changes drew immediate backlash from artists, patrons and former board members. Several notable celebrities canceled planned appearances, and television producer Shonda Rhimes stepped away from the board.
A judge later ruled that Trump’s name had to be removed and that only Congress has the authority to approve a formal name change for the Kennedy Center.
The court also blocked the Trump administration from closing the arts center for two years as part of proposed renovations.
Before the physical letters were removed, the Kennedy Center had already begun taking Trump’s name off its website, email signatures, letterhead and other official documents.
Those materials have since been restored to the original name, “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” or the shortened “Kennedy Center.”
The early-morning removal marked a symbolic end to a naming fight that had placed one of the nation’s most recognizable cultural landmarks at the center of a political and legal battle.
