Judge questions why Kennedy Center is moving so quickly to return
Trump's name to building
[August 28, 2026]
By STEVEN SLOAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about the
Kennedy Center’s intention to return President Donald Trump’s name to
the historic performing arts venue by early next month, challenging the
board’s insistence on moving forward even in the face of a court ruling
that blocked and reversed a previous effort.
Just seconds after the Trump administration's lawyer, Brantley Mayers,
began making his case at a nearly two-hour hearing, U.S. District Court
Judge Christopher Cooper interrupted to ask why the center needed to
begin inscribing the president's name on the institution's facade as
soon as Sept. 8.
“What’s magic about that date?” Cooper asked, quipping that sometimes
judges travel over the Labor Day holiday.
Mayers responded that the timeline was in accordance with a vote earlier
this month by the Trump-aligned board. As he returned to his arguments
that renovations at the Kennedy Center require energy and talent, Cooper
interjected again.
“That’s all fine and good,” the judge said. “What does that have to do
with what Congress intended in these statutes? That’s really what’s
before me.”
By late Thursday, the administration informed the court that it wouldn't
proceed with changes at the Kennedy Center before Oct. 8 to allow Cooper
more time to consider the case.
Trump has spent much of his second term reshaping Washington to his
liking, demolishing the East Wing of the White House to make way for a
ballroom, planning a triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and
a renovated golf course along the Potomac River. The Kennedy Center is a
rare stumbling block in that effort after Cooper ruled in May that
Trump's name was added to the building illegally, ordering it to be
removed.
Trump and his allies, however, have refused to let that be the final
word.
The Trump-aligned board at the Kennedy Center voted earlier this month
to inscribe his name on the venue’s facade so it would read “The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By
President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached
$100 million, another inscription would be added reading: “Endowed by
the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also be renamed in
Trump's honor.
Mayers argued that the moves amount to a recognition of Trump, not the
renaming of the institution that was sought earlier. The institution no
longer calls itself the Trump-Kennedy Center or focuses on such
branding, and there's no effort to return to that argument.
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The bust of President John F. Kennedy is displayed in the Grand
Foyer at the Kennedy Center, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 in Washington.
(Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
 The government's lawyer also
encouraged Cooper not to rule on the inscription related to the
endowment because no money has been raised, essentially leaving it a
theoretical possibility for now.
Despite Cooper's skepticism about the developments, he also
questioned whether he had the authority to block the moves, as the
administration appeals his earlier ruling. He pressed a lawyer for
Rep. Joyce Beatty on whether that appeal undermined his jurisdiction
in the case.
“I want to make sure I have the jurisdiction to do whatever I did,”
Cooper said of an eventual ruling in the case.
Beatty is an ex officio member of the board who has led the effort
to block Trump's moves to put his stamp on the institution. Her
lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky, warned Cooper that failing to act “would
create this black hole where there’s no way to enforce” the earlier
decision.
Hanging over the hearing was the prospect that the administration
may seek to demolish the Kennedy Center. In a filing earlier this
week, administration lawyers told the court that absent recognition
of the president, the Kennedy Center would struggle to raise money
for renovations. Without that money, they suggested, the building
may need to be demolished, a prospect that alarmed some given
Trump’s swift moves last year to dismantle the East Wing.
The Kennedy Center, the lawyers argued, “will deteriorate further
into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken
down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site,
such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River
that has been proposed, by some, for many years.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who attended the hearing, seemed
to downplay that possibility.
“What was pointed out,” he told reporters, “was that if you do
nothing, bad things happen. But they’re not going to happen on
Thursday.”
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