Kennedy Center Closes Amid Trump Name Dispute

WASHINGTON — The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Tuesday to shutter the main building of the nation’s premier performing arts venue, effective immediately, hours after a federal judge blocked a renewed effort to place President Donald Trump’s name on the structure.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Trump-aligned board cannot install any memorial or inscription honoring the president — or anyone else — without congressional authorization. “Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote in a 22-page order. The decision reiterates his May ruling that only Congress can alter the name of the living memorial to the assassinated president.

Trump, who serves as board chairman, participated in the meeting and announced the outcome on Truth Social. He said the board voted “almost unanimously” to close the facility “for Safety reasons” so reconstruction can begin. Congress has approved $257 million for the work. However, Trump stated that the renovation “cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name.” If that ruling is adverse and is not overturned by the Supreme Court, he wrote, “the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”

The latest board proposal, approved in August, sought inscriptions such as “Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump” on the facade, possible recognition of a Trump Kennedy Center Fund if fundraising goals were met, and renaming the surrounding grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Cooper rejected the effort as an end-run around his earlier permanent injunction and the center’s governing statute.

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In May, Cooper ordered the removal of Trump’s name, which the board had added months earlier so the building read “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” He also temporarily blocked an earlier closure plan, finding the board had acted without adequate information. A tarp has remained over the front portico since the name was taken down in June.

The lawsuit was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio trustee whose voting rights had been restricted. Her attorneys have argued that threats to withhold repairs or close the venue amount to pressure to allow the naming. The Justice Department appealed Tuesday’s ruling and previously floated alternatives, including a large outdoor amphitheater, if the center could not proceed under Trump’s terms.

Board materials and officials have cited structural problems, including corroded steel, water intrusion, aging systems, and a recent ceiling collapse, as justification for immediate closure. Critics, including some Democratic trustees, contend the financial pressures intensified after artists canceled performances and ticket sales declined following the original renaming. Programming is expected to continue at other Kennedy Center facilities and off-site venues while the main building remains closed.

The center remains under a prior injunction that may limit the board’s ability to implement the shutdown without further court action. Beatty’s legal team has sought emergency relief to keep the facility open. The dispute is expected to continue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.