A federal judge has ruled that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts cannot be officially renamed after President Donald Trump, concluding that the institution's governing board lacked the legal authority to make the change.
In a decision issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper declared that Congress named the Kennedy Center through federal law and that any official name change must come from Congress itself. The decision declares a December 2025 board resolution legally void after trustees sought to rename the institution the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts," the "Trump Kennedy Center," or similar variations.
Cooper's order also blocked a planned closure tied to renovations at the Kennedy Center. The judge criticized the board's decision-making process, describing it as "ill-informed and seemingly preordained," and found that the closure could not move forward on the record before the court.
Beatty, who serves as an ex officio trustee of the Kennedy Center's board, brought the lawsuit challenging the renaming effort, the planned closure, and a bylaw change affecting voting rights on the board.
Government lawyers argued that the board had authority to approve the renovations and that the work was needed to address conditions at the center. Beatty challenged the process used to approve the closure, while preservation groups raised separate concerns that the project could lead to changes beyond the limited repair work described by officials.
Much of the dispute turned on the difference between managing the Kennedy Center and changing the law that governs it. Cooper found that the board's authority over the institution did not include the power to rename it. Because Congress included the name in the law creating the center, the judge ruled that the board could not change it through an internal resolution.
The order also requires officials to remove Trump-related references from signage, the Kennedy Center's website, and other official materials. It bars the Kennedy Center from presenting itself under a different name unless Congress authorizes the change.
Beatty argued that limiting the voting rights of ex officio members could affect how major decisions at the Kennedy Center are made. Cooper also ruled that a provision adopted in the board's May 2025 bylaws, which categorized those members as non-voting trustees, violated the statute governing the institution.
The judge permanently barred enforcement of that provision, concluding that the board could not use its bylaws to take away voting rights provided under federal law.
In the same order, Cooper granted summary judgment to Beatty on several claims, denied much of the Kennedy Center officials' cross-motion for summary judgment, and reserved judgment on certain remaining claims pending any motions for reconsideration or interlocutory appeals.
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