Workers removed U.S. President, Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Saturday, following a federal judge’s ruling that the renaming was unlawful, the venue confirmed.
In a legal filing, Kennedy Center Executive Director Matt Floca stated that the institution had “removed all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds” bearing Trump’s name. Around noon Washington time, the exterior sign remained covered by a white tarp as work to remove Trump’s name was underway. Loud noises echoed from beneath the cover as morning joggers paused briefly in front of the venue to watch.
The removal followed a judge’s rejection of a last-minute bid by the center’s board to halt the process, marking a setback for the president’s broader push since returning to the White House to place his name and image in official spaces, an abrupt departure from American political tradition.
A crowd had gathered outside the arts center on Friday night, cheering occasionally as workers erected scaffolding to take down the signage. Thousands more watched from afar via livestream, waiting for the moment Trump’s name would be torn from the wall.
The work was delayed by “thunderstorms which presented safety concerns to workers” and was expected to be completed “in the early hours of the morning,” Floca said in a statement.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper had ordered Trump’s name removed from the iconic Washington building. In his May 29 ruling, Cooper stated that the Kennedy Center had been illegally renamed after Trump and that only Congress has the authority to change its name. He gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump’s name from the marble facade and all materials linked to the venue. The Kennedy Center had already dropped Trump’s name from its website earlier in the week.
On Friday, Cooper rejected a last-minute appeal by the center’s board to stay his ruling, prompting the center to request a 12-hour extension of the deadline to remove the signage. The judge denied the request, stating that the public interest “is rarely served by the ‘perpetuation’ of ‘unlawful’ governmental action.”
Cooper has also issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations, which was scheduled to begin in July.
A furious Trump responded by saying he was giving up control of the venue, which he had seized at the start of his second term last year by naming himself chairman. The center’s governing board, which Trump stacked with loyalists, voted to rename the venue the “Trump Kennedy Center” in December, and the president’s full name was added to the facade in large, all-capital letters above that of Kennedy. Several artists canceled scheduled performances following the move.
The now-defunct US Institute of Peace was also renamed after Trump, and his face stares down from large banners outside the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture. The Trump administration is also seeking to have his image placed on a $250 bill to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of independence from Britain.
