Judge orders Trump's name removed from Kennedy Center

A district judge in Washington D.C. has ordered that President Donald Trump's name must be removed from the cultural institution, the Kennedy Center. The ruling came on Friday, according to Reuters.

Last year, Trump appointed a director and a board that subsequently chose him as chairman. In December 2025, the board decided to rename the institution "The Trump Kennedy Center." However, the judge has now determined that the Kennedy Center cannot adopt a new name without explicit approval from Congress.

Consequently, the judge mandated that the Trump administration must remove all physical signage bearing Trump's name and erase all references to a "Trump Kennedy Center" from official materials within a 14-day period. "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," the judge stated.

The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. was established in 1971 as a cultural institution and a memorial to John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963 after serving as U.S. president for just under three years.

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Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.