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Figure caption,Watch: President Trump's name added to facade of Kennedy Center
ByNardine Saad- Published15 September 2026, 18:53 BST
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 comprises his cabinet members and allies, approved a resolution in August that called for the inscription "Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump" to be added 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, and 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 storied venue "for safety reasons" and to begin the process of reconstruction.
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 will 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 approved more than $250m for renovations in Trump's massive spending legislation known as "The Big Beautiful Bill".
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.
When he put the block in place, Cooper said the board could return and request it be lifted, provided it had come to the decision to close "in a prudent manner". The justice department is expected to make that request by Friday, CNN reported.
Beatty, an Ohio congresswoman and Democrat, said on Tuesday that the centre had planned to undergo phased renovations for years while still putting on some performances, instead of fully shuttering.
She blamed Trump's attempt to rename the centre for the departure of donors, patrons, and artists.
"Donald Trump only cares about the Kennedy Center for his vanity," she said in a statement to the BBC. "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, including the re-naming, were followed by cancellations by artists booked at the venue and a drop in ticket sales.
Image source, Getty ImagesMost 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 that 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 a written order issued on Tuesday.
The judge said the board's proposal to add language to the existing name of the centre and its surrounding campus "bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted".
That statute was a decision by the US legislative body to memorialise Kennedy, "and no one else, at the Center bearing his name", the order said.
On Sunday, the Kennedy Center administration told its board that the arts institution was on the brink of bankruptcy, the Washington Post, external reported.
The administration said it was in a "precarious fiscal position" and would not be able to support its payroll obligations and routine maintenance contracts "within a matter of weeks".
The current leadership at the centre has said the building is unsafe for continued occupancy, pointing to part of the ceiling falling in earlier this month. But others close to the centre dispute that it must be closed.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said on Truth Social that the Kennedy Center is "in a virtual state of collapse".
He described dire conditions and railed against the "hostile and conflicted" judge for keeping it open despite not having performances scheduled or "people that would have the Courage to even go in".
