Workers Strip Trump's Name From the Kennedy Center Hours After a Court-Ordered Deadline

Crews removed President Trump's name from the exterior of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 13, 2026, hours past an extended court deadline. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ordered the signage down by noon Eastern; a May ruling in the same case blocked the center's planned two-year closure for renovations and ordered the renaming undone. Democratic lawmakers and historic preservation groups had sued over the renaming, which the board approved after Trump returned to office in January 2025 and installed himself as chairman. Executive director Matt Floca certified in a court filing that all signage 'that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump' had been removed.

It is a rare instance of a court ordering the physical undoing of a presidential branding decision at a federal cultural institution, with the administration complying only after a stay request failed.

Trump said he would seek to transfer the Kennedy Center to Congress and suggested it might close over safety concerns. An appeals court denied a further stay request on July 8, 2026.