Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Bid to Restore Name on Kennedy Center

A federal appeals court on Thursday denied President Donald Trump’s request to put his name back on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, another legal defeat in his campaign to assert control over the Washington, D.C. institution. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that Trump’s team “failed to show how they will be irreparably injured” if the name remains absent while the appeal is pending.

The administration had argued that removal of Trump’s name would impede fundraising and contribute to financial decline, but the court dismissed those claims as “conclusory assertions” from the Trump‑backed executive director in a “factually unsupported declaration.” It noted the lower court’s finding that “there is no proof that current or future donations hinge on President Trump’s name being on the building.” Judges also rejected a last‑ditch argument about returning donations, pointing out it was raised for the first time on appeal and “cannot demonstrate an abuse of discretion.”

The decision means the president’s name won’t reappear on the center during the appeal process, though he may still prevail in the underlying case. This follows a May ruling that only Congress can change the venue’s name, which led to the physical removal of Trump’s name in June. The same month, a separate judge threw out a lawsuit against drummer Chuck Redd, who withdrew from a Kennedy Center concert in protest of what one report termed Trump’s “coup” at the institution.

The legal back-and-forth highlights a deeper struggle over cultural spaces and executive power. For the Kennedy Center, conceived as a living memorial, the dispute is ultimately about who defines its identity—and the courts, for now, are not persuaded that a name alone carries the financial weight Trump’s team claims.