Kennedy Center Votes to Close Again, Add Trump’s Name Back

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Kennedy Center’s board has apparently decided that one court fight over a building renovation and President Donald Trump’s name simply wasn’t enough.

On Thursday, August 13, the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted again to move forward with a roughly two-year shutdown of the center’s main building for extensive renovations, according to multiple reports.

And, in a move almost guaranteed to keep federal lawyers busy, the board also voted to put Trump’s name back on the building — although this time, technically, it isn’t attempting to rename the Kennedy Center.

The proposed inscription?

“Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

Because apparently even national performing arts centers now come with renovation credits.

The Kennedy Center Closure Is Back

The board previously approved plans in March to close the Kennedy Center’s primary performance spaces for approximately two years while the building underwent extensive renovations.

That decision was later blocked by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who concluded that board members did not have sufficient information before them when they approved the shutdown.

In his May ruling, Cooper characterized the earlier closure decision as effectively predetermined rather than the product of a properly informed board process.

So on Thursday, the board tried again.

The Associated Press reports that trustees approved moving forward with a two-year closure and renovation project, while portions of the Kennedy Center campus, including some outdoor programming and the newer REACH complex, may remain operational.

The renovation package has been reported at approximately $250 million and could include structural repairs, flooring improvements, acoustical work, public restroom renovations, furniture replacement, ticketing technology and other upgrades. The goal is reportedly to reopen the primary facility around summer 2028.

That is considerably more ambitious than changing the carpet and adding a Starbucks.

And Trump’s Name Is Coming Back — Sort Of

The bigger political and legal fireworks may involve Trump’s name.

The Kennedy Center board originally voted in December 2025 to rename the institution the Trump Kennedy Center, adding Trump’s name to the building almost immediately afterward.

That triggered a lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board.

In May, Judge Cooper ruled that the board did not have authority to rename the national memorial.

His reasoning was fairly straightforward: Congress named the Kennedy Center, so Congress — not the board — has the authority to change that name.

The court subsequently ordered Trump’s name removed from signage, branding, merchandise and other Kennedy Center materials.

Workers removed Trump’s name from the building in June after the Center unsuccessfully attempted to delay the order.

Then in July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit refused to allow Trump’s name to return while the case remained on appeal.

That might sound fairly conclusive.

The Kennedy Center board apparently heard something closer to, “Try wording it differently.”

The New Language: “Restored and Renovated By…”

Thursday’s resolution does not appear to formally rename the institution.

Instead, the board approved an inscription beneath the Kennedy Center signage reading:

“Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

It also approved naming part of the grounds the President Donald J. Trump Plaza, according to reports.

That distinction could become critical.

The previous ruling dealt specifically with the board attempting to alter the federally established name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This time, the board could argue that an inscription recognizing Trump’s role in the renovation is different from renaming the institution itself.

Whether Judge Cooper agrees with that interpretation is another matter entirely.

And considering this dispute has already produced multiple court rulings, emergency appeals, scaffolding, midnight legal filings and actual crews removing giant letters from a federal building, nobody should assume Chapter Two will be boring.

Why Was the Original Closure Blocked?

The renovation fight and naming fight are legally related but technically separate issues.

Trump first announced plans in February to temporarily close the Kennedy Center beginning in July, arguing that a complete shutdown would allow contractors to perform the renovations faster and more efficiently than attempting construction while performances continued.

Trump described the facility as requiring extensive rebuilding and said closing it entirely would allow the center to emerge as a dramatically improved performing arts complex. Court filings later documented that announcement.

The board formally approved the shutdown in March.

But Cooper later blocked the plan, questioning whether trustees had actually been provided enough detailed information to meaningfully evaluate the proposal before voting.

The latest vote appears designed to address precisely that criticism by giving board members a more developed renovation plan before asking them to approve it again.

In other words, the board’s position appears to be:

Fine. We’ll have another meeting.

The $250 Million Question

Separate from the Trump branding controversy is a legitimate question facing the Kennedy Center: How much work does the building actually need?

Kennedy Center leadership has maintained that the decades-old facility requires substantial repairs and modernization.

Trump and his allies have argued that completely closing the main building allows workers to accomplish the project more quickly, instead of stretching renovations over several years while attempting to accommodate performances simultaneously.

Opponents, however, have questioned both the scope of the project and the process used to approve portions of the work.

Historic preservation organizations have already challenged aspects of the Trump administration’s Kennedy Center redevelopment efforts in court.

There have also been whistleblower allegations concerning previous construction work at the center, including claims of rushed projects and questionable contracting practices. Those allegations have been raised publicly by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and remain disputed.

So there are really three stories happening simultaneously:

The Kennedy Center needs renovations.

There is an ongoing fight over who gets to decide how those renovations happen.

And there is an entirely separate-but-not-really-separate argument over whose name gets attached to the finished product.

Welcome to Washington.

Why Trump’s Name Is Such a Big Deal

The Kennedy Center isn’t simply another theater with a naming-rights agreement.

Congress designated it as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy following Kennedy’s 1963 assassination.

That congressional designation is exactly why Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board could not simply change the institution’s name on its own.

When Trump’s name was previously installed on the building, the backlash extended beyond partisan politics. Members of the Kennedy family, artists and preservation advocates criticized the move, arguing that changing the memorial’s identity undermined its original purpose.

The Trump administration and Kennedy Center leadership have taken a very different position, emphasizing Trump’s fundraising, renovation efforts and involvement in revitalizing the facility.

Now the board appears to be attempting a legal middle ground:

Don’t rename the Kennedy Center.

Just make very, very sure everyone knows who renovated it.

What Happens Next?

Expect another round in court.

The board’s new closure resolution will likely be scrutinized to determine whether trustees actually addressed the informational deficiencies identified in Cooper’s earlier ruling.

The Trump inscription presents another question: Does recognizing Trump for the renovation violate the spirit or actual language of the court’s order prohibiting the board from effectively renaming the Kennedy Center?

The answer could depend heavily on exactly how the inscription is displayed, how the Center markets itself and whether the phrase is interpreted as historical recognition or another attempt to associate Trump’s name permanently with the federally designated Kennedy memorial.

Rep. Beatty, who successfully challenged the previous name change, has already criticized the new actions.

The litigation surrounding the original renaming also remains alive on appeal.

This Newsroom Take

Forget Hamilton.

The longest-running production at the Kennedy Center may currently be Trump v. The Kennedy Center Sign Department.

There is a serious underlying debate here. A nationally important performing arts complex needs maintenance. A president and his administration believe a dramatic renovation is necessary. Opponents believe federal law and congressional authority limit how far the board can go.

Those are legitimate arguments worth having.

But the repeated battle over Trump’s name has transformed what could have been a fairly conventional infrastructure project into another Washington political spectacle.

Trump’s name went up.

A judge said take it down.

The appeals court said keep it down.

The board met again.

And now the proposed solution is essentially:

“Okay, we won’t rename the building. We’ll just put his name underneath it.”

Somewhere, a constitutional lawyer just canceled dinner plans.

Sources

Reporting for this article was based on current coverage from The Associated Press, Reuters, Axios and The Guardian, along with federal court records from Beatty v. Trump and previous reporting on the Kennedy Center litigation. The May 29 federal ruling found that Congress controls the Kennedy Center’s official name, while subsequent appellate proceedings declined to suspend the order requiring Trump’s name to remain removed during the appeal.