All references to Donald Trump have been removed from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
In December last year, the Trump-appointed board of the arts venue voted to rename the institution to the ‘Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts’, or the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ in short.
In May, however, a US district judge ruled that the board had no authority to make that change, because the centre’s name is fixed by federal statute and can only be amended by Congress. He ordered all references to Trump’s name to be removed from the building and the official name to be restored to the Kennedy Center.
Work began to remove all references to the president earlier this month, and now it is reportedly complete. Matt Floca, executive director and chief operating officer of the performing arts venue, told a federal court yesterday (June 13) that the institution had complied with the aforementioned order to remove Trump’s name.
In a filing, Floca said the board of trustees and the center had removed “all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump”.
However, onlookers hoping to witness the moment were disappointed, as the building remains covered in tarp, per a report from Billboard.
The Kennedy Center’s name sign is still blocked by tarps and surrounded by security guards more than 12 hours after President Donald Trump’s name was removed from the building.
Just a handful of journalists and passersby waiting for the tarps to come down. pic.twitter.com/P3KCZGvYTs
— Jonathan Edwards (@jonathanreports) June 13, 2026
Those on the left have been celebrating the removal of Trump’s name. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex member of the board who sued to remove references to the president from the building and the center’s operations, posted a video of her doing a “Trump dance” on social media in one of the Kennedy Center’s great halls.
“Today’s victory is the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people,” Beatty said in a statement. “The rule of law prevailed, and that is worth celebrating.”
At the time of the order, Trump reacted angrily, writing on social media that he would be “working with Congress to transfer this failing institution back to them”, and added that the “radical left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of”.
A memo was soon sent to staff at the institution directing employees to stop using Trump’s name in reference to the Kennedy Center on any formal communications or press materials. A deadline of June 12 was set to update all physical and digital signage too, with the letters in Trump’s name being removed from the exterior of the building.
Also earlier this month, the Trump administration’s lawsuit against a jazz musician who cancelled his annual Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center in the aftermath of the name change was dismissed.
The venue’s president Richard Grenell had strongly criticised Chuck Redd’s decision and demanded $1million in damages for what he described as a “political stunt”, but on Friday (June 5), a judge ruled in Redd’s favour, citing Anti-SLAPP laws that protect defendants against meritless lawsuits and “political retribution”.
Ben Folds also wrote an open letter this week to rally support for the National Symphony Orchestra, who are based at the Kennedy Center. Folds resigned as the NSO’s artistic advisor in the light of Trump’s takeover, but has now said the orchestra “doesn’t have the luxury of time” to get back on its feet.
A string of performers have also withdrawn from the Trump-linked Freedom 250 events at the Washington State Mall’s 250th anniversary of American independence celebrations, which are scheduled to start at the end of this month.
Milli Vanilli, The Commodores, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Martina McBride and Morris Day & The Time have all pulled out, with many choosing to distance themselves once its political associations became clear.