Following the judge’s ruling, the president announced the performing arts center’s immediate closure “for safety reasons.”

Donald Trump’s name must remain off Kennedy Center, judge rules

Following the judge’s ruling, the president announced the performing arts center’s immediate closure “for safety reasons.”

By Kathleen Perricone

September 15, 2026 4:23 p.m. ET

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John F. Kennedy Center; Donald Trump in Ireland on Sept. 12, 2026. Credit:

J. David Ake/Getty; Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty

- Donald Trump’s name must remain off the Kennedy Center, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

- In response, the president announced the venue’s closure “for safety reasons.”

- Trump’s name was first added onto the building in December 2025 and removed this past June.

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s name from returning to the Kennedy Center.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled on Tuesday that the performing arts venue’s board of trustees — who were appointed by the president — are not authorized to add his name back to the building’s exterior after it was removed in June.

“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’ blessing,” Cooper said.

** reached out to the Kennedy Center and White House for comment. The latter replied with a link to the president’s Truth Social page announcing the building’s immediate closure “for safety reasons” as voted on by the board.

The Kennedy Center covered in a tarp on Aug. 28, 2026.

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty

However, the Kennedy Center’s renovation and reconstruction, “a very large and complex job,” cannot begin until “the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name,” Trump said. “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the construction project will not happen.

The president made a point to add he’s already raised $17 million to keep the Kennedy Center “afloat.”

In August, the board voted to inscribe the president’s name on the facade of the historic building, which opened to the public in 1971, in recognition of his renovation efforts.

Trump-picked board votes to reinstall his name on exterior of John F. Kennedy Center

Kennedy family members blast Trump renaming of Kennedy Center: 'It's downright weird'

Ahead of the judge’s ruling on Tuesday, Trump posted a lengthy rant on Truth Social that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts “is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years.”

According to the president, “a large piece of concrete and steel just dropped down, in a thud, from the ceiling of a heavily trafficked main hallway.” The building was closed at the time, but had it been open “innocent people would have been killed.”

Donald Trump attends golf game in Ireland on Sept. 12, 2026.

Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty

One minute prior to the alleged incident, a security guard had passed through the area, Trump claimed. “He was, therefore, 60 seconds away from certain death.”

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Without his intervention, Trump said “the Building is destined to doom.”

“The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have,” insisted Trump. “I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed [to] do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!”

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