Kennedy Center Loses Bid to Halt Order to Remove Trump’s Name

The Kennedy Center lost its last-minute bid to pause a permanent injunction barring the performing-arts venue from displaying Trump’s name pending its appeal of the order.

The Kennedy Center’s motion for a stay, filed Thursday, claimed the board has “strong arguments to raise on appeal” and argued it would be “wasteful” and “confusing for the public” to force the center to remove the signage only to replace it, should the center prevail before the D.C. Circuit.

Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper of the US District Court for the District of Columbia denied the request Friday.

The center also claimed removing the Trump signage could threaten the center’s fundraising efforts. But Cooper already said there was no evidence showing that current or future donations depended on Trump’s name being on the building.

Cooper’s May 29 order declared the board’s unilateral renaming of the Kennedy Center unlawful and gave the board two weeks to either comply with the injunction or appeal it.

The center initially took steps to comply but then reversed course just before the Friday deadline.

The plaintiff, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who is an ex-officio board member, called the effort to halt the injunction belated and “frivolous” in a filing opposing the requested stay.

“A party that sincerely believes it might suffer irreparable harm does not run out the clock in this manner,” she said.

In addition to ordering the removal of Trump’s name from the façade, website and official materials, Cooper also said the board couldn’t strip ex officio trustees of their voting rights and preliminarily enjoined the board from closing the center for a two-year renovation.

Shortly after taking office, Trump replaced a number of the Kennedy Center’s trustees and appointed himself to serve on the board. The new board subsequently elected him as chair and replaced the center’s president at his direction.

The board decided to rename the center in December, and Trump’s name was added to the building the following day. It then voted to close the center in March after Trump announced two years of planned renovations.

Cooper said he was preliminarily enjoining the closure because it appeared the board based its decision “on an insufficient, one-sided presentation” and failed to adequately consider the its obligations and the consequences of closure.

Beatty is represented by Washington Litigation Group and Democracy Defenders Fund.

The case is Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-04480, 6/11/26.