A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump from closing the Kennedy Center and ordered his name removed from the building.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, said renaming the Kennedy Center was illegal.

Judge Cooper issued a ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by Democrat Ohio Congressman Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote in a 94-page opinion.

In February, President Trump announced that the Trump Kennedy Center would be shuttered for two years for major renovations.

Last year, the Kennedy Center Board elected President Trump as Board Chair.

The Trump Kennedy Center was set to close down on July 4, 2026, and reopen as a “World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment.”

Previous statement from President Trump on the closure:

After a one year review of The Trump Kennedy Center, that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants, deciding between either Construction with Closure and Re-Opening or, Partial Construction while continuing Entertainment Operations through a much longer period of time, working in and around the Performances,

I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.

In other words, if we don’t close, the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer. The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!

Based on these findings, and totally subject to Board approval, I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before.

Therefore, The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex. Financing is completed, and fully in place!

This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.

America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

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