Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Legal Fight Escalates Over Trump’s Kennedy Center Renaming
The Kennedy Center was created by Congress as a place for performing arts and as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
The law says the center should keep Kennedy’s name.
President Donald Trump took control of the center’s board during his second term.
The board then added Trump’s name to the institution and changed which trustees could vote.
Representative Joyce Beatty challenged those actions in court.
Judge Christopher Cooper said the board could not rename the center because only Congress could do that.
He also said the board could not take away some trustees’ voting rights.
The board later tried to honor Trump in another way by naming the grounds Trump Plaza.
The judge stopped that effort, and Trump then threatened that the center might close or be demolished.
Federal law established the center as a performing-arts institution and memorial to John F. Kennedy.
After President Trump took control of the board, it changed voting rules and renamed the institution after Trump and Kennedy.
Representative Joyce Beatty sued, arguing that the board lacked authority to make those changes.
Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that only Congress could change the center’s name and that trustees could not be denied voting rights.
After the board proposed honoring Trump and naming the grounds Trump Plaza, the president threatened that the center could close or be demolished.
- Who
- President Donald Trump, the Kennedy Center board, Representative Joyce Beatty, and Judge Christopher Cooper.
- What
- A legal and political dispute over the center’s name, board voting rules, proposed honors for Trump, and the center’s future.
- When
- The dispute intensified during Trump’s second term; the renaming occurred in December 2025, followed by court rulings in May and September.
- Where
- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
- Why
- The board sought to honor Trump and change the institution’s name, while Beatty and the court maintained that federal law reserved those powers to Congress.
Court and Congressional Authority
Presidential Recognition and Board Control
Who can rename the center?
Court and Congressional Authority
The center’s name was established by Congress, and Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that only Congress can change it.
Presidential Recognition and Board Control
The board renamed the institution after Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy, indicating that it viewed its governing authority as sufficient for the change.
Trustee voting rights
Court and Congressional Authority
The court said the law does not distinguish among trustees’ powers and does not permit the board to deny ex officio trustees the right to vote.
Presidential Recognition and Board Control
The reconstituted board changed its bylaws to remove voting rights from ex officio trustees, leaving voting power with Trump’s personal appointees.
Honoring President Trump
Court and Congressional Authority
Judge Cooper characterized the board’s later proposal to honor Trump and name the grounds Trump Plaza as an attempt to evade his earlier ruling.
Presidential Recognition and Board Control
The board said it wanted to recognize what it described as Trump’s current and future contributions to the center’s survival; Trump threatened closure or demolition if his administration’s efforts were not recognized.
- Original authorization
- Congress authorized a National Cultural Center in 1958.
- Kennedy name
- Congress renamed the center after John F. Kennedy in 1964.
- Legal restriction
- The center’s governing law identifies it as a memorial to President Kennedy and does not authorize the board to rename it.
- Board action
- In December 2025, the board renamed the institution the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
- Court ruling
- Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that only Congress could change the center’s name.
- Later proposal
- The board proposed naming the grounds President Donald J. Trump Plaza and adding inscriptions honoring Trump.
- Renovation funding
- The article says Congress appropriated $257 million for Kennedy Center renovations.