Appeals court denies last-minute request to block removal of Trump's name from Kennedy Center
There is still a deadline of Friday to remove Trump’s name from the building.
By
Peter Charalambous
June 12, 2026, 8:37 PM
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A federal appeals court Friday evening denied the Department of Justice's request for an administrative stay of a court order that requires the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center.
The decision from the appeals court came following a last-minute request from the Trump administration asking the court to step in and block the removal of Trump's name from the Washington, D.C., performing arts center.
The administration faces a deadline of midnight Friday to remove Trump's name from the building.
As of Friday afternoon, construction crews surround the part of the Kennedy Center bearing Trump's name, assembling scaffolding to assist in the name removal.
People work as they remove the lettering referencing Donald Trump from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., June 12, 2026.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
In an earlier filing with the D.C. Circuit, the Trump administration argued that removing Trump's name would stall fundraising, prevent repairs from taking place and confuse the public.
"No one else other than President Trump would be in the position of both rebuilding the Building, and raising the money for its operation," the filing stated, saying the performing arts center can be " the envy of the World," and arguing the building could suffer a "financial and structural collapse."
Earlier Friday, a lower court judge denied the
Department of Justice's request to lift an order requiring the removal
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the Trump administration failed to show how the Trump administration would be "irreparably injured absent a stay."
Judge Cooper also noted that the Trump administration's earlier steps to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center's website "undermine the notion that Defendants face irreparable harm in complying with the order in full."
Trump's name has already been removed from the Kennedy Center's website and YouTube page.
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"What's more, issuance of a stay pending appeal would not be in the public interest, which is rarely served by the 'perpetuation' of 'unlawful' governmental action," he wrote.
On Thursday, less than a day before a court-ordered deadline to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center, the DOJ filed a notice of appeal to challenge
the ruling that found his attempt to rename and close the performing arts center for lengthy renovations was illegal.
Construction workers build scaffolding near the sign for the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on June 12, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Two weeks ago, Cooper gave the Trump administration 14 days to remove references to the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" and "Trump Kennedy Center" from the building and grounds, as well the center's website.
On social media following the ruling, Trump appeared to back away from his planned renovation of the center, saying in a social media post, "Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into "NEVER NEVER LAND."
In his May decision, Judge Cooper ruled that the rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the "Trump Kennedy Center" violated the law, writing, "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."
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The judge also said the Kennedy Center Board made an "ill-informed" and "seemingly preordained" decision to close the center for two years starting in July for major renovations.
Congress created the famed cultural institution in a federal statute, designating it as a living memorial in 1964 shortly after President John F. Kennedy's death.
Construction workers remove equipment from a parked truck below the sign for the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on June 12, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The lawsuit that led to the judge's order was brought by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who sits on the Kennedy Board of Trustees as one of its ex-officio members.
Earlier Friday, lawyers for Beatty urged Cooper to deny what she described as the Trump administration's "latest gambit" to lift the ruling "at nearly the last possible moment."
The Trump administration still faces a deadline of Friday to remove Trump’s name from the building.
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