Kennedy Center officials said Saturday that all references to President Donald Trump inside and outside the Kennedy Center and online have been removed, following a court extension order that required a federal judge to remove them by noon today.
Subscribe to read this story without ads
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
Early Saturday morning, construction workers began removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center building’s facade, six months after the president’s handpicked board voted to rebrand the iconic performing arts venue with his name.
Crews removed the text with Trump’s name in front of the building’s John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, which was added in December.
Dozens of protesters gathered to cheer on workers as they prepared to remove the president’s name from the building.
A federal judge ruled last month that the center’s board of directors does not have the authority to unilaterally change the building’s name and that President Trump’s name must be removed by June 12.
“Congress named the Kennedy Center, and only Congress can change that name,” U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper wrote on May 29.
Late Friday night, the Justice Department asked for a 12-hour delay to certify compliance with the court order, blaming thunderstorms for the delay.
“Removal efforts are currently underway and Defendants anticipate that they will be completed in the early morning hours of June 13, 2026,” Justice Department attorneys wrote.
Trump first mentioned the possibility of adding his name to the Kennedy Center in a post on Truth Social last August.
In a last-ditch effort to block the judge’s order, the Kennedy Center sought to block the order late Thursday. A judge denied Trump’s request Friday, hours before the deadline to remove his name.
In a petition to a federal appeals court seeking to block a judge’s order, the center argued for the first time that removing Trump’s name from the building would result in it having to return hundreds of millions of dollars it raised for renovations due to previously unannounced changes to the center’s bylaws.
“All of this money, hundreds of millions of dollars, must be returned immediately or the Center will not receive it,” the application states.
“The reason for this provision is that the people and businesses that have donated or will donate millions of dollars to the center simply wanted the building to be named ‘Trump,'” the filing states.
There is no mention of when, where or how the center’s rules were changed. The Kennedy Center did not respond to inquiries about when the changes were made or exactly how much funding could be at risk.
The Court of Appeals on Friday night denied the Kennedy Center’s request for a moratorium.
An attorney for Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member who filed the lawsuit, told the appeals court that the center’s claims are “baseless” because the funding issue has never been raised in a lower court.
In a statement Saturday morning, Beatty called the removal of Trump’s name a “victory” and said, “Today’s victory is the beginning of handing the Kennedy Center back to the American people. The rule of law prevails, and that’s worth celebrating. Let’s send this as a message to the nation: If we stand up, fight back, and protect our democracy, we can win. This is just the beginning.”
Kennedy Center lawyers last week instructed staff to remove Trump’s name from all official signage in the building to comply with a judge’s May 29 order. Trump’s name no longer appears on the center’s website as of Monday, and the site has reverted to its previous branding of “Kennedy Center.”
The May ruling also blocked President Trump’s board of directors’ plan to close the center for two years to allow for renovations. The judge called the plans “ill-informed decisions that appear to have been predetermined.”
