President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the Kennedy Center entered a new and more contentious phase Tuesday after a federal judge blocked another attempt to place his name on the landmark—and the center’s board then voted to close its main building.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s board could not add an inscription crediting Trump with renovating and restoring the performing arts complex. The judge also blocked a plan to name the grounds in front of the building the President Donald J. Trump Plaza.
The decision came less than an hour before the board was scheduled to meet, according to ABC News.
“Linguistic gymnastics cannot extricate the Kennedy Center’s Board from an operative judicial order,” Cooper wrote in the ruling, as quoted by ABC News.
The latest order represents a setback for Trump’s branding plans, but it does not end his broader push to overhaul the federally supported cultural institution.
Board’s Trump Tribute Runs Into Congress
The Kennedy Center board voted in August to inscribe Trump’s name on the facade as the president who “restored and renovated” the building. Trustees also approved the proposed Trump Plaza designation and contemplated a second inscription if a Trump Kennedy Center Fund raised $100 million.
The board framed the inscriptions as recognition of Trump’s renovation work—not a formal renaming of the center. Cooper rejected that distinction.
“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” he wrote.
Congress designated the Kennedy Center as the sole national memorial to President John F. Kennedy in the Washington area. Federal law also directs the center’s trustees to prevent additional memorials or memorial-style plaques from being installed in its public spaces. The provision appears in 20 U.S.C. § 76q.
Cooper relied on that law in May when he ordered Trump’s name removed from the building after the board had added it in December 2025. The lettering was taken down in June.
Tuesday’s ruling reaffirmed that only Congress can authorize the kind of permanent recognition the board sought. Cooper did not decide whether an inscription tied to the proposed $100 million Trump fund could eventually proceed because that money has not been raised.
Trump’s Fundraising Role at Center of Dispute
The naming battle is closely tied to the center’s renovation and finances.
Congress has already allocated $257 million for infrastructure work, but the board has argued that Trump could help raise another $100 million. Draft resolutions disclosed in court warned that the institution faced a possible fiscal collapse and suggested Trump was unlikely to lead a financial rescue without prominent recognition.
Cooper pushed back on that argument, writing that the center had not produced evidence showing that current or future donations depended on Trump’s name appearing on the building, according to ABC News.
The center has experienced falling ticket sales, canceled performances and major programming changes during the fight over its leadership and identity. Its officials have disputed suggestions that Trump’s involvement caused the institution’s financial problems and have blamed earlier management decisions for the turmoil.
Board Votes to Close Main Building
Hours after Cooper’s order, the Kennedy Center board voted during a private meeting to close the institution amid financial and branding disputes, according to reports, which cited people familiar with the meeting.
ABC News reported that the board voted to close the main building immediately. The decision follows an earlier plan for a two-year shutdown during a renovation project estimated at $285 million.
Kennedy Center leaders have pointed to water damage, corrosion and other structural concerns. A section of the ceiling in the Grand Foyer fell during a storm earlier this month, scattering debris across the red carpet. No one was injured.
Officials cited the incident as evidence that the main building is unsafe for continued occupancy. Plans disclosed before the meeting called for major programs—including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Honors and the Mark Twain Prize—to continue at other venues or in an adjacent building during the renovation.
Opponents of the closure, including Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, have challenged whether the board’s engineering evidence justifies shutting the entire complex. Beatty, an ex officio trustee, brought the lawsuit contesting the board’s naming and closure plans.
What Comes Next
For Trump, Tuesday produced two sharply different outcomes: a court stopped the effort to place his name on the Kennedy Center, while the board moved ahead with a closure that could clear the way for the sweeping renovation he has championed.
The naming question is now straightforward unless a higher court intervenes: Congress must approve any permanent memorial to Trump at the Kennedy Center. The closure, the renovation timetable and the center’s financial future remain unsettled—and likely headed for further legal and political battles
