Overview
- A federal judge ruled on May 29 that the Kennedy Center’s December renaming was unlawful and ordered the removal of President Trump’s name and a halt to a planned two-year closure.
- The Kennedy Center’s executive director filed a sworn declaration that the letters were taken down and activist group Hands Off the Arts supplied photos, which multiple outlets verified showing the facade without Trump’s name.
- Workers removed the lettering in the early hours of June 13 but left behind scaffolding and a large tarp that continue to obscure the portico while the center says crews repair marble and soffit panels.
- Rep. Joyce Beatty has filed motions accusing the center of keeping the tarp up in “petulant defiance” and of using legal maneuvers and donor structures to delay full compliance, and the case is now before the D.C. Circuit on appeal.
- The judge has demanded status reports and pressed the board to sustain meaningful operations past the planned July 5 closure date, leaving programming, staffing and fundraising uncertain as protests and public scrutiny continue.