{"id":1116,"date":"2026-06-12T06:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1116"},"modified":"2026-06-12T06:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:23:02","slug":"kennedy-center-board-seeks-pause-of-ruling-ordering-removal-of-trumps-name-by-friday-deadline-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1116","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center board seeks pause of ruling ordering removal of Trump\u2019s name by Friday deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/16596c4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/7988x5323+0+1\/resize\/980x653!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F18%2F92%2F4ea228a705ced6f196bb3b113100%2Fa1492b47df7846ac81dfc658010ddfa7\" width=\"100%\" \/><small>A man wheels a garbage bin outside of The John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)<\/small><\/p>\n<p>2026-06-12T00:40:32Z<\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a><\/span> handpicked board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the iconic performing arts facility before a court-ordered deadline to remove it by Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The board voted Thursday to seek a stay of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper\u2019s May 29 ruling that said Trump\u2019s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center, according to a person familiar with the move who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The formal request was filed late Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>Cooper ruled that only Congress could institute a change to the Kennedy Center\u2019s name and ordered references to Trump be removed by Friday. He also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.<\/p>\n<p>The board move <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-kennedy-center-b27248c91b59594da972b95191c4035f\">marks a shift<\/a><\/span> from a June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center\u2019s Office of General Counsel saying email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as \u201cThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts\u201d or \u201cKennedy Center.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The Kennedy Center\u2019s website has dropped the president\u2019s name. And an email earlier this week <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/kennedy-center-maher-twain-name-change-adf8353fe468bfa2783ec96882493fa3\">sent to members<\/a><\/span> offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump\u2019s name. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s 11th hour gambit after waiting nearly two weeks evinces desperation,\u201d Norm Eisen, a board member at Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement. \u201cThat is what they should be feeling because they don\u2019t have a legal leg to stand on. We will be vigorously contesting this latest ploy as we have throughout the case on behalf of Congresswoman Beatty and the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <a><\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <!-- AP \"Read More\" embed (place mid-article) --><\/p>\n<p>  <button type=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><br \/>\n    Read More <span aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><br \/>\n  <\/button><\/p>\n<p>They represent Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center\u2019s board who filed the lawsuit seeking to remove Trump\u2019s name from the institution.<\/p>\n<p>After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-kennedy-center-board-chairman-firings-21cd0018c6e9f591d59becea8573d8c0\">ousted<\/a><\/span> the center\u2019s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees that named him chairman. He brought in Richard Grenell to serve as president, a position he held until March when Matt Floca assumed the role.<\/p>\n<p>The center\u2019s lineup has included more Trump-friendly programming, serving as the venue for events such as the premiere of first lady Melania Trump\u2019s documentary, \u201cMelania.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The board also announced it had renamed the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress, and physically added the president\u2019s name to the building\u2019s facade.<\/p>\n<p>The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense. Actor <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/project-greenlight-issa-rae-female-directors-a5cc992263afb4017c66461fdf1171d4\">Issa Rae,<\/a><\/span> musician Bela Fleck and author Louise Penny were among the numerous artists who withdrew from appearances, while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Ren\u00e9e Fleming resigned. Earlier this month, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to voting on the stay on Thursday, the board backed a resolution recognizing Trump\u2019s \u201ccommitment to uphold this cherished American institution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/author\/steven-sloan\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"STEVEN SLOAN\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/95ca510\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/480x480+0+65\/resize\/100x100!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fbb%2Ffd%2F209ebe5f4f13ac8100827f34f978%2Fssloan103-720-steven-sloan.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        <\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/author\/steven-sloan\">STEVEN SLOAN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                Sloan is the Washington correspondent at The Associated Press. He managed the AP\u2019s coverage of the 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a rel=\"noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stevenpsloan\" target=\"_blank\" data-social-service=\"twitter\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <svg><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>        <\/p>\n<p>    <span><br \/>\n        twitter<br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man wheels a garbage bin outside of The John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) 2026-06-12T00:40:32Z WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s handpicked board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the iconic&hellip;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}