Donald Trump has been dealt another legal blow in his bid to keep his name on the facade of the Kennedy Center, after a three-judge panel ruled that the president's name must remain off the building while an appeal over its removal is ongoing.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request by the Kennedy Center's board of trustees – chaired by Trump – to keep his name on the institution pending an appeal against a ruling that ordered its removal.
“US appeals court rejects Trump's bid to keep his name on Kennedy Center while appeal proceeds”
The institution was renamed The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year. But US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that only Congress has the authority to rename the centre and ordered Trump's name removed.
The Trump administration complied after its attempts to block the ruling failed, and the president's name was removed from the facade and all digital materials last month – though the change remains hidden from public view behind a tarp.
In its ruling on Wednesday, the panel wrote that the board's request "failed to show how they will be irreparably injured" if Trump's name stays off the building through the appeal process. The board had argued that the removal "threatens to impede" fundraising efforts, but the judges found that claim came without the support of "specific facts or evidence".
The lawsuit was brought by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic representative from Ohio and Kennedy Center board member. Reacting to Wednesday's ruling, Beatty said: "Today’s ruling again affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful." She added: "His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people. Now it is time for the Trump administration to accept this, comply with the law, and take the tarps down."
When Trump first took office in 2025, he replaced the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, who then named him chairman. Last month, onlookers gathered on the plaza in front of the centre hoping to witness the dramatic moment the signage was removed, but a tarp over the scaffolding concealed it.
For now, the tarp remains – a physical and legal barrier between Trump's name and the iconic white marble that still bears the name of John F Kennedy.