{"id":13285,"date":"2026-05-30T00:28:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T00:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/30\/judge-says-kennedy-center-board-broke-law-putting-trumps-name-on-building-blocks-closure-ap-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T00:28:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T00:28:34","slug":"judge-says-kennedy-center-board-broke-law-putting-trumps-name-on-building-blocks-closure-ap-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/30\/judge-says-kennedy-center-board-broke-law-putting-trumps-name-on-building-blocks-closure-ap-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge says Kennedy Center board broke law putting Trump’s name on building, blocks closure – AP News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A federal judge ruled Friday<\/a><\/span> that President Donald Trump\u2019s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center<\/a><\/span> and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations \u2014 the latest legal setback for Trump\u2019s efforts to leave his personal mark on the landscape of the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Trump said in response that he\u2019s backing away from his proposed renovation and returning control of the arts institution to Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into \u2018NEVER NEVER LAND,\u2019\u201d Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., ruled<\/a><\/span> that the Kennedy Center board\u2019s March 16 vote to close the facility<\/a><\/span> was \u201cill-informed and seemingly preordained\u201d with no regard for its legal obligations. The administration had announced the work would begin in July and last approximately two years, but Cooper\u2019s ruling halts those plans for now. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AP AUDIO: Judge says Kennedy Center board broke law putting Trump\u2019s name on building, blocks closure <\/p>\n

<\/bsp-custom-headline> <\/p>\n

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports a federal judge says adding President Trump\u2019s name to the Kennedy Center was illegal.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Cooper also concluded that the board \u201coverstepped its statutory bounds\u201d by unilaterally adding Trump\u2019s name to the center. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it, he said.<\/p>\n

The judge, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, ordered the defendants to remove Trump\u2019s name from the institution\u2019s fa\u00e7ade and any \u201cofficial materials,\u201d such as digital or physical signs, within two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts be renamed absent Congressional authorization? The answer, plain from the face of the statute, is no. Nor can any other individual be memorialized on the front portico of the building,\u201d Cooper wrote.<\/p>\n

Trump said the judge \u201cshould be ashamed of himself\u201d in a social media post hours after the decision was issued.<\/p>\n

The Republican president said he instructed his administration to \u201cmake all necessary arrangements\u201d to have the center transferred to Congress.<\/p>\n

Trump determined to leave his mark on DC<\/h2>\n

Trump has made it a priority of his second term to leave his personal stamp on some of the most historic spots in Washington. He demolished the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom<\/a><\/span>. His name or image has been added to government buildings, including the U.S. Institute of Peace<\/a><\/span> and Justice Department headquarters<\/a><\/span>. He is pushing for a triumphal arch<\/a><\/span> overlooking the Potomac River.<\/p>\n

Opponents have challenged other Trump construction projects in court \u2014 and won favorable rulings. But the district court judges likely won\u2019t have the final say as the administration pursues appeals.<\/p>\n

Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center\u2019s vice president of public relations, said Friday the institution is \u201cconfident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board\u2019s will to recognize President Trump\u2019s historic contributions to our nation\u2019s cultural center.\u201d She said the decision would be reviewed \u201ccarefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThough the reality remains \u2014 the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration \u2013 a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,\u201d Daravi said. \u201cWith $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper held hearings in late April for parallel lawsuits challenging the project. One was filed by a group of cultural and historic preservation organizations. The other was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center\u2019s board. He ruled in favor of Beatty\u2019s request but rejected the other challenge.<\/p>\n

Beatty called the decision a win for the Kennedy Center and the performing arts. \u201cNow hopefully people can come back to work, we can continue to be the Kennedy Center that we were intended to be,\u201d she told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Justice Department attorneys said renovation plans for the building are limited in scope and well within the board\u2019s authority to make without needing outside approvals.<\/p>\n

How much of an overhaul is needed?<\/h2>\n

The plaintiffs worry the president and his board allies will flout preservation rules designed to maintain the building\u2019s historic fabric. In earlier statements in court hearings, attorneys for Beatty and the preservation groups raised doubts about the limited scope of the project, pointing to Trump\u2019s statements that he would \u201cfully expose\u201d the building\u2019s steel skeleton.<\/p>\n

Beatty has said she was \u201cvery fearful that we\u2019ll see what happened with the East Wing and what happened with the Rose Garden\u201d if the center is closed and the renovations allowed unsupervised, referring to major changes the president has made at the White House.<\/p>\n

Mike Floca, the Kennedy Center\u2019s executive director and chief operating officer, spent several weeks during the spring walking a bipartisan group of lawmakers and their staffs, along with journalists and Washington city officials, through the expansive building that sprawls across 1.5 million square feet.<\/p>\n

The tours were intended to show that the Kennedy Center, which began construction in 1965, was in genuine need of an overhaul.<\/a><\/span> The walkthroughs showed severe water damage, apparent in some places through discoloration and pooling. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and in need of replacement.<\/p>\n

Floca told reporters in April that he considered doing the repairs individually but insisted it was his recommendation to Trump to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.<\/p>\n

Trump has taken a keen interest in the Kennedy Center\u2019s operations since he returned to the White House last year. He installed a handpicked board that named him chairman. His name was added to the fa\u00e7ade of a building that is considered a living monument to Kennedy.<\/p>\n

The Kennedy Center has kept up performances ahead of the closure, though at a much slower pace than in previous years. Trump attended the premiere of the musical \u201cChicago\u201d<\/a><\/span> in March and other shows, including \u201cMoulin Rouge,\u201d are slated for June.<\/p>\n

Bill Maher<\/a><\/span>, the comedian who has had an up and down relationship with Trump, is expected to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on June 28, an event that was anticipated to be one of the final big moments at the Kennedy Center before the closure.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Collin Binkley and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump\u2019s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations \u2014 the latest legal setback for Trump\u2019s efforts to leave his personal mark on the landscape of the nation\u2019s capital. Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}