Judge says Kennedy Center board violated law that placed Trump’s name on the building and prevents its closure

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations — the latest legal setback for Trump’s efforts to leave his personal mark on the landscape of the nation’s capital.

Trump said in response that he was backing down from the proposed renovation project and returning control of the arts institution to Congress.

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“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, and restore this institution physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could just be a hopeless journey to Never Land,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Kennedy Center board’s March 16 vote to close the facility was “ill-advised and appears to have been predetermined” without any regard to its legal obligations. The administration had announced that work would begin in July and continue for about two years, but Cooper’s ruling puts those plans on hold for now.

“The trustees may have evaluated the appropriateness of closing in a number of prudent ways. This was not one of them,” he wrote.

Cooper also concluded that the council “overstepped its legal bounds” by unilaterally adding Trump’s name to the center. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, he said, and only Congress can change it.

The judge, nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, ordered the defendants to remove Trump’s name from the organization’s interface and any “official materials,” such as digital or physical signs, within two weeks.

“Can the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts be renamed without permission from Congress? The clear answer from the face of the law is no. No other individual may be memorialized on the front portico of the building,” Cooper wrote.

Trump said in a social media post hours after the decision was issued that the judge “should be ashamed of himself.”

The Republican president said that he had instructed his administration to “make all necessary arrangements” to transfer the center to Congress.

Trump is determined to leave his mark on the capital

Trump has made it a priority in his second term to leave his personal mark on some of the most historic sites in Washington. He demolished the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. His name or likeness has been added to government buildings, including the headquarters of the Department of Justice and the US Institute of Peace. He seeks to create a triumphal arch overlooking the Potomac River.

Opponents have challenged Trump’s other construction projects in court — and won favorable rulings. But district court judges likely won’t have the final say as the administration pursues appeals.

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Roma Dharavi, vice president of public relations at the Kennedy Center, said Friday that the institution is “confident that the court will uphold, on appeal, the Council’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.” She said the decision would be reviewed “carefully.”

“Although the reality still remains, which is that the center needs urgent and major renovation, it is a fact that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” Dharavi said. “With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing all legal avenues to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a National Cultural Landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”

Cooper held hearings in late April for parallel lawsuits challenging the project. One of them was submitted by a group of cultural and historical preservation organizations. The other was introduced by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Directors. He ruled in favor of Beatty’s request but rejected the other challenge.

Beatty called the decision a win for the Kennedy Center and the performing arts. “Hopefully now people can go back to work, and we can continue to be the Kennedy Center that we were meant to be,” she told the Associated Press.

Justice Department lawyers said plans to renovate the building were limited in scope and fell within the council’s authority without the need for external approvals.

How much repair is required?

Plaintiffs worry that the president and his allies on the board will violate preservation rules designed to preserve the building’s historic fabric. In previous statements in court hearings, Beatty’s lawyers and building preservation groups have raised doubts about the limited scope of the project, pointing to Trump’s statements that it would “fully expose” the building’s steel structure.

Beatty said she was “very afraid we would see what happened to the East Wing and what happened to the Rose Garden” if the center was closed and renovations were allowed without oversight, referring to the major changes the president has made to the White House.

Mike Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director and chief operating officer, spent several weeks during the spring walking a group of bipartisan lawmakers and their staffs, along with journalists and Washington city officials, through the expansive, 1.5 million-square-foot building.

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The tours were intended to show that the Kennedy Center, whose construction began in 1965, was in real need of an overhaul. The guidelines showed extensive water damage, visible in places through discoloration and pooling. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and need to be replaced.

Floca told reporters in April that he considered making repairs individually but insisted that his recommendation to Trump was to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.

Trump has shown keen interest in Kennedy Center operations since returning to the White House last year. He installed a carefully selected board of directors and appointed him president. His name was added to the facade of the building, which is a living memorial to Kennedy.

The Kennedy Center continued to perform before the closure, albeit at a much slower pace than in previous years. Trump attended the premiere of the musical “Chicago” in March, and other performances, including “Moulin Rouge,” are scheduled for June.

Bill Maher, the comedian who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, is expected to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on June 28, an event that was expected to be one of the last big moments at the Kennedy Center before the shutdown.

Associated Press writers Alana Durkin Richer, Colleen Binkley and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.