President Donald Trump’s effort to rebrand the Kennedy Center in his own name is illegal, a federal judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the rebranding of the institution that honors President John F. Kennedy as the “Trump-Kennedy Center” violated the clear language of federal law that requires the building to honor “President Kennedy and President Kennedy alone.”
The order to revert to the original, longstanding name came as part of a broader ruling that also overturned a plan announced in March to close the center for two years for renovations. Cooper, an Obama appointee, said repairs to the campus can proceed and an outright closure in the future might be lawful if the center’s board is more thoroughly consulted.
But he blasted the board for making its closure decision based on “an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information” that “neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.”
Hours after the ruling, Trump said in a social media post that he would abandon his pursuit of a Kennedy Center redesign and direct his administration to transfer oversight of the center to Congress.
Cooper’s ruling is a stinging blow for Trump, who has made clear his personal stake in the rebranding and remodeling of the Kennedy Center. Officials at the performing arts center told Cooper in evidentiary hearings about Trump’s direct involvement even in the minutiae of the redesigned campus and ballrooms, from the details of the chairs to the plans for exposed steel on the exterior to the design of the decorative columns.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said it “will continue to defend President Trump’s ability to restore the Center to its former glory as the finest performing arts center in the country — if not the world.”
Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public relations, said it remains “committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”
During the litigation, the Justice Department also contended that the renaming of the building as the Trump-Kennedy Center was legal because it was merely an informal nickname, despite the fact that Trump’s name was added to the building’s marble facade last December.
But Cooper cited official statements from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt describing the formal “renaming” of the center and other efforts to tout the rebranding, concluding that they “reflect far more than an innocuous nicknaming.”
Cooper’s ruling against Trump’s plans came in a lawsuit brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who serves as an ex officio member of the center’s board. She argued in the lawsuit that the Trump administration’s moves illegally deprived her of her power to vote on the closure and remodeling plan, and frustrated board members’ legal duty to maintain a presidential memorial and present arts programming.
In another ruling Friday, Cooper denied a bid by a preservation group to force the Kennedy Center to consult with outside groups before undertaking its planned renovations. The judge said the scope of the work described by the current executive director of the center, Matt Floca, did not appear to require such consultation.
Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
