Overview
- A federal judge ordered on Friday that all physical and digital references to President Trump be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center within 14 days and temporarily blocked the board’s planned full closure for renovations.
- The court held that the center’s organic statute formally names it for John F. Kennedy and that only Congress has the authority to change that name.
- Judge Christopher R. Cooper found the Kennedy Center board exceeded its legal authority and described the March 16 vote to close the venue as ill‑informed and effectively preordained because trustees lacked needed information.
- The Kennedy Center said it will appeal the ruling, President Trump criticized the decision and signaled he would transfer control back to Congress, and Rep. Joyce Beatty, who sued over the renaming, hailed the order.
- Preservation groups and architects had separately challenged the shutdown and raised concerns about harm to programming and staff, and the ruling leaves open further appeals and possible congressional or appellate actions that will determine the center’s long‑term fate.