Trump says Kennedy Center to close as court rules his name must stay off building

The Kennedy Center board has voted to close the performing arts centre for two years, just as a US judge blocked it from adding President Donald Trump's name back to the building.

In May, the same judge ordered the removal of Trump's name and blocked its temporary closure for proposed renovations.

The board, which is chaired by Trump and includes his cabinet members and allies, approved a resolution in August to add the inscription, "Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump" to the venue.

Trump announced the addition of his name to the institution, among other rebranding measures across the nation's capital, last year.

The judge's written order came less than an hour before the centre's board voted on the closure.

This was the third time it has approved closing the centre since February, amid legal challenges to Trump's work to take greater control of the institution, but there is a chance the centre's doors could stay open despite Tuesday's vote.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the board voted "almost unanimously" to close the venue "for safety reasons".

While the closing "will take place immediately", Trump said renovations cannot begin until the court "rules on the Board's approved name" and vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court if it is a "negative" ruling.

He added that the US Department of Justice would ask for an expedited appeal and that he had raised $17m for the centre to "keep it afloat".

Also in August, the board approved a resolution to rename the campus the "President Donald J. Trump Plaza" if $100m was raised for the renovations.

Congress has approved more than $250m for renovations, as well.

However, the centre cannot close unless the federal judge, Christopher Cooper, lifts a temporary block that he put in place in May requiring it to stay open while a lawsuit brought by board member Joyce Beatty goes ahead.

Cooper had said the board could return and request the block to be lifted, provided it came to the decision to close "in a prudent manner". The request is expected to be made by Friday, CNN reported.

Beatty, an Ohio congresswoman and Democrat, said on Tuesday that the centre had planned for years to undergo phased renovations while still putting on some performances, instead of fully shutting.

She blamed Trump's attempted renaming for the departures of audiences and artists, telling the BBC he "only cares about the Kennedy Center for his vanity".

"That is wrong and it is a breach of his fiduciary duty as a trustee. Congress established the Kennedy Center as a living memorial to President Kennedy, and I am proud to defend this cherished institution."

In February 2025, Trump replaced several trustees on the board, which then decided in December to rename the institution. New lettering bearing Trump's full name was affixed to the centre's front portico the following day.

The changes were followed by cancellations by artists booked at the venue and a drop in ticket sales.

Most of the legal challenges to Trump's changes focus on the fact that Congress established the centre as a memorial to President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. While detractors say that means Congress must approve changes to the memorial, Trump has argued he has the power to act.

"Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing," Judge Cooper said in his written order on Tuesday.

He said the board's proposal to add language to the g name of the centre and its surrounding campus "bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted".

That statute marked a decision by lawmakers to memorialise Kennedy, "and no one else, at the Center bearing his name", the order said.

The Kennedy Center administration told the board on Sunday that the arts institution was on the brink of bankruptcy, the Washington Post reported, saying the centre was in a "precarious fiscal position" and would not be able to cover payroll obligations and routine maintenance contracts "within a matter of weeks".

Trump has said it is "in a virtual state of collapse" and the centre's leadership has said the building is unsafe for continued occupancy, pointing to part of the ceiling falling in recently. But others dispute that it must be closed.

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.