U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would step away from leadership at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after a federal judge ruled that he could not affix his name to the building or close the theater for two years as planned.
In a 580-word post on Truth Social, Trump called Judge Christopher Cooper "reckless." He depicted the Kennedy Center as a dilapidated venue only he could restore. "Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than let President Trump make it something people can be proud of," he wrote.
The controversy began in February 2025, when Trump fired Democratic members of the center's bipartisan board of trustees and replaced them with supporters. He also dismissed longtime president Deborah Rutter, and the board quickly elected him chairman.
By December 2025, the board voted to rename the building the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." The next day, construction crews affixed his name to the facade. Critics immediately condemned this as a violation of the 1964 law and a disrespect to the late President Kennedy.
Under public pressure and a wave of artist cancellations, in February 2026 Trump announced a two-year closure starting in July for "renovations." Representative Joyce Beatty, a center trustee, sued to halt the closure and demand Trump's removal.
In a 94-page ruling, Judge Christopher Cooper—appointed by former President Barack Obama—sided with Beatty. He ordered Trump's name removed from the theater front, signs, and official documents within 14 days, citing the 1964 law. "The Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy by clear congressional mandate, and only Congress can change that," the judge wrote.
Cooper also overturned the Trump-led board's decision to strip voting rights from trustees like Beatty. Additionally, he temporarily halted the closure, concluding the board had violated its duty to manage the center "as a prudent person" under the law. He cited administration statements and plans to use the facility for the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations before the closure, indicating the danger was not as severe as Trump's team claimed.
Reacting to the ruling, President Trump pledged to transfer management of the facility to Congress. "We will work with Congress to hand over this failed facility for them to decide what to do with it," he wrote. He also criticized Cooper as partisan, saying the judge should be "ashamed of himself."
In contrast, Beatty welcomed the ruling: "The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his vanity."
