The Trump Kennedy Center saga apparently has another act, and this one involves a courtroom ruling, a new inscription and a board that seems determined to keep the president’s name attached to the Washington arts institution.
On August 13, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to put Trump’s name back on the building, this time through an inscription crediting him with restoring and renovating the venue. The board also approved a proposal to call the surrounding grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” The moves are significant because they come after a federal judge ruled that the board did not have the legal authority to rename the institution.
How did we get here?
The Kennedy Center was established by Congress in 1964 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, following his assassination. Things changed dramatically after Trump took control of the board in 2025. He replaced several trustees, appointed himself to the board and was subsequently elected chair. The board then replaced the center’s president and altered its rules concerning voting rights for ex officio trustees. Later that year, it voted to add Trump’s name to the institution renaming the Kennedy Center to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
That original name change did not survive its trip through federal court.
In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper concluded that the board had gone beyond the authority Congress gave it. Because Congress created the Kennedy Center and established its name, Cooper determined that the board could not unilaterally give the building another official name. Trump’s name was subsequently ordered removed from the façade, and the lettering came down in June.
Now the board is attempting a different approach.
According to the New York Times, rather than simply restoring the previous “Trump Kennedy Center” branding, the new proposal would retain the Kennedy name while adding a prominent acknowledgment of Trump’s role in the center’s renovation. Critics argue that this is effectively an attempt to get around the court’s decision rather than comply with it.
Why LGBTQ+ audiences should care
For queer people, the Kennedy Center is about more than a name carved into a building.
The performing arts have long offered LGBTQ+ people something that society did not always provide: a place to be seen. Theater, dance and music have created room for queer performers, writers and audiences to explore identity, relationships and community, sometimes long before those conversations were welcomed elsewhere.
That history makes the battle over the Kennedy Center feel particularly loaded. A national arts institution is not simply another piece of real estate waiting for a donor’s name. It carries cultural memory and represents the idea that the arts belong to the public.
And now, the fight is heading into another round.
Judge Cooper’s ruling remains a major obstacle to the board’s latest plan, while the administration has appealed the decision.
So, for the moment, John F. Kennedy remains the center’s official namesake.
But if Trump’s board has anything to say about it, this particular curtain call may be far from over.