Will Trump's Name Ultimately Disappear from the Kennedy Center? Request to Halt Removal Dismissed

Appeal by Kennedy Center Board Also Dismissed
Removal Preparations Underway Just Six Months After Name Change

The board of the Kennedy Center, a landmark performance venue in Washington, D.C., filed for a stay of execution after a court ordered the removal of U.S. President Donald Trump's name from the building, but the court rejected their request.

On June 13, Yonhap News, citing AP and the Washington Post (WP), reported that Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the Kennedy Center board's request to stay the court order requiring the removal of President Trump's name from the building and other locations.

View of the Kennedy Center, equipped with scaffolding in preparation for the removal of the Trump designation. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Judge Cooper explained, "The Kennedy Center failed to prove that the Center would suffer 'irreparable harm' if President Trump's name were removed." The Kennedy Center immediately appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but the appellate court also dismissed the request on the same day.

Previously, on May 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that changing the Kennedy Center's name without congressional approval was illegal and ordered the removal of President Trump's name by June 12. The court also ordered a halt to the planned renovation work at the Center.

After the launch of his second administration on January 1 last year, President Trump replaced a large portion of the Kennedy Center's board and assumed the position of chairman himself. Subsequently, in December last year, the Kennedy Center board unanimously voted to change the center's name to the "Trump-Kennedy Center." President Trump also announced a plan to suspend operations at the Center for approximately two years starting this July to undertake a full-scale renovation.

While the Kennedy Center appeared to comply with the court's order in part by removing President Trump's name from its website and YouTube page, it ultimately filed for legal recourse just one day before the deadline. Both the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Department of Justice requested the court to postpone the enforcement of the removal decision, arguing that removing President Trump's name from the Kennedy Center building during ongoing litigation could lead to confusion and unnecessary expenses if the court's decision were later reversed.

On the court-imposed deadline, scaffolding was installed around the Kennedy Center building in preparation for the removal of President Trump's name, but the actual removal work was not carried out.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.