Kennedy Center Trump Name Removal follows judge’s ruling on renaming
The Kennedy Center Trump name removal appeared on the venue’s website after a federal judge ruled the center could not be renamed for Donald Trump. The switch also showed up on the center’s home page, marking a public reversal after last month’s court order.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper wrote that the center cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the board’s unilateral say-so. He also wrote that Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.
Cooper’s Kennedy Center ruling
Congress named the venue for President John F. Kennedy in 1964. Cooper said the Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes clear that the center is to be named for President Kennedy, and that President Donald Trump’s handpicked board of trustees acted illegally when it voted to add Trump’s name.
The center received an email last week from its general counsel that laid out steps for cooperation, including the removal of Trump’s name. The website change followed that instruction and moved the ruling from the courtroom into the center’s public-facing pages.
Trump branding on the homepage
The name removal reached the Kennedy Center’s home page, not just a lower-level page. That made the change visible to anyone checking the venue’s main site, including members, ticket buyers and performers looking for the institution’s public identity.
The center disclosed the guest list Monday in an email sent to members for Bill Maher’s Mark Twain Award ceremony. John Mellencamp, Jay Leno and Whitney Cummings will be among the guest speakers when Maher receives the award on June 28, 2026.
Bill Maher member packages
Members were offered packages ranging from $99 for a seat reservation to $1,500 and more for seating and admission to pre- and post-show receptions. Maher is the 27th recipient of the Twain Award.
That scheduling sits beside the branding dispute and gives the Kennedy Center a practical test: it is carrying out a court-driven change while also promoting a separate marquee event to its members. The website now reflects Cooper’s order, and the center’s naming dispute remains tied to Congress rather than the board that tried to change it.
