WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Rep. Joyce Beatty made an emergency request on Thursday that a federal court block the Kennedy Center from returning name to the building.
The Trump-aligned board at the Kennedy Center voted earlier this month to inscribe the president’s name on the venue鈥檚 facade so it would read 鈥淭he John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.鈥� If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading 鈥淓ndowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.鈥�
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also be renamed to recognize Trump.
The Kennedy Center has said it to engrave Trump鈥檚 name on the building before Sept. 8 to allow for legal arguments to unfold.
Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center, has led the effort to prevent Trump from memorializing himself there. In asking for the court鈥檚 intervention, her lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, wrote that the board’s actions amounted to 鈥渃lear violations鈥� of an earlier court order.
A representative for the Kennedy Center didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment. The resolution approved by Trump鈥檚 allies on the board said the Kennedy Center 鈥渨ould be in financial ruin without President Trump鈥檚 unique stature as both an unparalleled fundraiser and world-class developer.鈥�
Congress named the performing arts center as a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated. the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person鈥檚 name on the building鈥檚 exterior.
U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump鈥檚 name to the building, ordering it removed. The institution鈥檚 leaders complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding in place where Trump鈥檚 name once stood.
Lawyers for the Kennedy Center wouldn鈥檛 commit this week to taking down the scaffolding, saying it鈥檚 needed as part of a broader system for 鈥渨ater testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
