Construction workers began work to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday morning, six months after a board handpicked by the president voted to rebrand the iconic performing arts venue by adding his name to it.
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Crews removed lettering on the building, added in December, that inserted Trump’s name before “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” — the original signage that had been in place since construction began in 1964.
Several dozen attendees gathered and cheered on the workers who prepared to take the president’s name off of the building.
A federal judge ruled last month that Trump’s name must be removed by June 12, writing that the center’s board did not have the authority to unilaterally rename the building.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper wrote on May 29.
Late Friday night, the Justice Department sought a 12 hour delay to illustrate its compliance with the court order, blaming thunderstorms for the delay.
“The removal work is presently ongoing, and Defendants expect it will conclude in the early hours of the morning of June 13, 2026,” DOJ lawyers wrote.
Trump first raised the prospect of adding his name to the Kennedy Center in a Truth Social post last August.
In a last-ditch effort to halt the judge’s order, the Kennedy Center sought to block it late Thursday. The judge denied that request Friday, hours before the deadline for removing Trump’s name.
In a filing to a federal appeals court seeking to block the judge’s order, the center argued for the first time that taking Trump’s name off the building would result in having to return hundreds of millions of dollars that the center has raised for renovations due to a previously unannounced change to the center’s bylaws.
“All of this money, hundreds of millions of dollars, will have to be immediately returned, or not received by the Center,” the filing said.
The filing said the “reason for this clause is that people and companies, who have given, or will be giving, millions of dollars to the Center were only willing to do so with the name ‘Trump’ on the Building.”
It does not say how, when or where the change was made to the center’s bylaws. The Kennedy Center did not respond to inquiries about when the changes were made and exactly how much money might be at risk.
The appeals court on Friday night denied the Kennedy Center’s request for a pause.
Lawyers for the ex officio board member who filed the suit, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, told the appeals court in a filing that the center’s argument was “meritless” since the funding issue was never raised in the lower court.
In a statement Saturday morning, Beatty called the removal of Trump’s name a “victory,” saying, “Today’s victory is the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people. The rule of law prevailed, and that is worth celebrating. Let this send a message across the country: when we stand up, fight back, and defend our democracy, we can win. This is just the beginning.”
Lawyers for the Kennedy Center directed staff last week to remove Trump’s name from all official signage in the building to comply with the judge’s May 29 order. Trump’s name was no longer visible on the center’s website as of Monday, with the site reverting back to its prior “Kennedy Center” branding.
The May ruling also blocked a planned two-year closure of the center sought by Trump’s board to undertake renovations. The judge called those plans an “ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision.”
