UPDATED: Donald Trump‘s name was removed from the facade of the Kennedy Center on Saturday morning, following last minute efforts by the president and the board of the arts institution to retain the designation on the outside of the complex.
The center has “removed signage ‘that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President
Trump,’” attorneys for the Justice Department, representing the arts institution, wrote in a court declaration.
A crew started the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center early in the morning on Saturday, installing a tarp so a crowd watching in person and online couldn’t see the moment. As of late in the morning, the covering remained.
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Some photographers could view through cracks in the plastic covering to observe workers removing the letters.
At the center, spectators have gathered throughout the day on Friday and into the evening, chanting “Take it down. Take it down.”
Per a court order, the Kennedy Center had until midnight to remove the name and file a notice of compliance. But as that deadline passed, Justice Department attorneys asked a judge for a 12-hour extension of time, saying that thunderstorms earlier in the evening delayed the construction of scaffolding so crews could begin the process of removing the letters.
The tarp was wrapped around the scaffolding starting in the 1 a.m. ET hour, and workers began removing the letters after that. Seven months ago, the board of the center, controlled by Trump, voted to add the words “The Donald J. Trump And” before its original designation: “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the board, sued Trump and the center to remove the name and halt a planned two-year closure during renovations. She said in a statement on Saturday, “Today’s victory is the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people. The rule of law prevailed, and that is worth celebrating. Let this send a message across the country: when we stand up, fight back and defend our democracy, we can win. This is just the beginning.”
Last month, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the center’s board, controlled by Trump, lacked authority to add the president’s name to the complex, and that only Congress could do so. He gave them two weeks — until Friday — to restore the center to its original name. While the center removed Trump’s name from its website and on social media earlier in the week, it had remained on the front of the complex.
As the deadline approached, Trump and the board sought a stay that would have allowed them to retain the name beyond the deadline, but Cooper rejected it. They then appealed to the D.C. Circuit, but a three-judge panel denied that motion as well.
In their appellate motion, parts of which seemed to be written by Trump himself, the center argued that “millions” raised via the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation would have to be returned. They argued that “people and companies, who have given, or will be giving, millions of dollars to the Center were only willing to do so with the name ‘Trump’ on the Building.”
Just weeks into his second term, Trump took control of the center’s board, ensuring that he would be elected its chairman. In December, the board voted to add Trump’s name to the complex, generating an outcry from Democrats and members of the Kennedy family.
After the new branding, the center saw another round of artists canceling bookings. Ticket sales already had declined following the Trump takeover, which was not a big surprise given the core audience for the arts complex: Residents of Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and Maryland, which noted heavily against Trump in the 2024 election.
Cooper also ruled that the board was “derelict” in voting to close the center without fully considering its impact on things such as programming. Beatty was outside the center on Friday evening.
In addition to the hundreds of others gathered, those outside the center included C-SPAN, while some independent content creators, such as Jim Acosta, streamed for hours, cable networks provided regular updates.
CNN and MS NOW coverage also noted the symbolic meaning of the removal — a successful pushback on a president who has tried to remake D.C.
That said, Trump is continuing to shatter norms this weekend, after he invited Ultimate Fighting Championship to hold a weekend of events tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States. Nearby the Kennedy Center earlier on Friday, UFC held a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial, a prelude to the cage match at the White House on Sunday, held in a giant makeshift arena.
