Trump says he will ‘transfer’ control of Kennedy Center to Congress after court setback
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A federal judge in Washington on May 29 ordered that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove US President Donald Trump’s name from the building’s facade and all official branding.
PHOTO: ERIC LEE/NYTIMES
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on May 29 said his administration will transfer control of the Kennedy Center to Congress, after a judge ordered the removal of his name from the iconic Washington venue and blocked his plans to close it for renovations.
He said on social media that he instructed the US Commerce Department to “make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this institution” and give lawmakers responsibility over its operation, maintenance and management.
It was not immediately clear how his directive could be carried out. The Kennedy Center was created by Congress in 1958 and is run by a board of trustees that the President has packed with allies in his second term.
Mr Trump’s announcement came after a judge on May 29 ruled that the performing arts centre, which Mr Trump renamed the “Trump Kennedy Center”, cannot be renamed without an Act of Congress.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington directed the Trump administration to take down all physical signage bearing Mr Trump’s name and to eliminate any references to a “Trump Kennedy Center” from official materials within 14 days.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the centre is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” the judge wrote. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
His order also stopped the Trump administration’s planned two-year closure of the centre for major renovations, though he said “sorely needed” repairs to the ageing building could move forward.
The judge said his decision “does not purport to dictate how the centre should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution – construction, closure, or otherwise – moving forward”.
In a post on Truth Social on May 29, Mr Trump said large-scale renovations set to begin in June would be impossible without a closure and that the judge’s order to keep the centre open would be dangerous.
“I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” Mr Trump said.
Judge Cooper ruled in a lawsuit brought by Ohio Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board by virtue of her position in Congress.
Ms Beatty, in a statement after the ruling, said the “Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump”.
Push to remake Washington
Mr Trump’s plan to renovate the centre is part of a broader push by the Republican leader to reshape Washington’s monumental core.
He also intends to erect a 76m arch and build a 90,000 sq ft ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
Those efforts also face court challenges.
A federal appeals court has allowed the Trump administration to move ahead with building the ballroom as it considers a lawsuit seeking to block it.
Ms Beatty sued the Trump administration in December 2025, calling the renaming of the building “a flagrant violation of the rule of law” that “flies in the face of our constitutional order”.
Her lawyers in a statement applauded Judge Cooper’s decision.
“This is a powerful blow against the Trump administration’s corruption,” attorneys Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said.
The board could still close the Kennedy Center, Judge Cooper wrote, “should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the centre in a prudent fashion”.
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy. REUTERS
