UMVA has learned that a federal appeals court denied a last‑minute bid to halt a lower‑court order forcing the removal of former President Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center.
The judge’s ruling, issued late Friday night, came as thunderstorms rattled Washington, prompting the Trump administration to request a 12‑hour postponement that was ultimately rejected.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, blocked Trump’s attempt to shutter the iconic performing‑arts venue and ordered his name stripped from the building by midnight.
Cooper’s 94‑page opinion emphasized that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” declaring the proposed renaming illegal.
The decision followed a lawsuit filed by Democratic Ohio Congressman Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, with legal strategy led by Norm Eisen.
In February, Trump had announced a two‑year closure for extensive renovations, and the board had even elected him as chair, planning a grand reopening as a “World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment.”
After Cooper’s order, Kennedy Center leadership sought a stay, but a three‑judge panel of the D.C. Circuit—two Obama appointees and one Trump appointee—refused the request, sealing the fate of the name removal.
With the deadline looming, crews are already on the ground, meticulously taking down signage bearing Trump’s name, while the center’s future legal maneuvers remain uncertain.
