WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a landmark legal rebuke of former president Donald Trump’s unprecedented efforts to brand iconic federal public spaces with his personal name, construction crews completed the removal of Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, bringing a months-long political and legal battle to a close.
The saga began shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, when the newly inaugurated Republican president moved to install himself as chairman of the prestigious performing arts venue and stacked the center’s governing board with hand-picked loyalists. In December of the previous year, the reshaped board voted to rebrand the institution as “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” adding large metal lettering of Trump’s name directly above the original dedication to assassinated president John F. Kennedy on the building’s riverfront facade.
The renaming sparked immediate public backlash. Dozens of scheduled performances were canceled by artists protesting the move, and ticket sales for remaining events plummeted as audiences boycotted the venue. Legal challenges were quickly filed, arguing that the unilateral name change violated federal law, as only Congress holds the authority to alter the official name of federally owned cultural institutions.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sided with challengers, ordering that all branding bearing Trump’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center’s building and grounds by the end of Friday, January 31. In a last-ditch effort to halt the work, center leadership (still dominated by Trump appointees at the time) filed an emergency appeal, arguing that the institution would face “irreparable harm” from the removal process. That appeal was rejected by both the district court and a higher appellate court on Friday, clearing the way for construction to begin.
Hundreds of anti-Trump activists and local residents gathered at the Kennedy Center on Friday to watch crews erect scaffolding, with dozens staying on site into the evening until severe overnight thunderstorms forced workers to pause construction out of safety concerns. The center’s executive director Matt Floca requested and received a 12-hour extension to the court-ordered deadline, allowing work to resume at dawn Saturday. By midday Saturday, Floca confirmed in a legal filing that all physical signage containing Trump’s name on both the building and surrounding grounds had been fully removed, and the Kennedy Center had already scrubbed all references to Trump’s name from its official website earlier that week. A white protective tarp remained stretched over the facade Saturday afternoon while crews finished touch-up work, drawing curious onlookers including morning joggers who paused to observe the scene.
Cooper also issued a temporary injunction blocking Trump’s planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center for renovations, which was scheduled to begin this coming July.
Local residents who gathered to watch the removal welcomed the outcome as a major victory against Trump’s efforts to reshape Washington’s public landscape. Forty-two-year-old Washington local Elise Serbaroli called the removal “a big win,” noting that she had been heartbroken when Trump’s name was first added to the building she has long counted as one of her favorite local destinations. Sixty-five-year-old Dawn Martin echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that the Kennedy Center’s original name honors a legacy that cannot be displaced for political gain. “Some people may think this is a menial sort of sign. But the truth is, we cannot take away the honor that the Congress bestowed on this beautiful building for John F. Kennedy, a president who deserves this honor and whose name should be protected,” Martin said. Tens of thousands of people also followed the removal process in real time via online livestream, reflecting the national attention the conflict has drawn.
The Kennedy Center controversy is not an isolated case. Since taking office in 2025, Trump has moved to rename multiple federal institutions across Washington, rebranding the now-defunct U.S. Institute of Peace in his own name and installing massive banners bearing his likeness outside the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture headquarters.
The name removal comes as Trump prepares to mark his 80th birthday Sunday with a high-profile $60 million celebrity cage fight event hosted on the White House grounds. The event is also being billed as the kickoff for national celebrations of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from Britain, which the Trump administration is marking with a new commemorative $250 bill featuring the president’s image. Trump responded to the court ruling last week by saying he would abandon all oversight and control of the Kennedy Center, in a fit of anger over the decision.