Kennedy Center Board Votes to Re-Inscribe Trump’s Name and Approve Two-Year Closure for Renovations

On Thursday, the board of trustees voted to reinstall Donald Trump’s name on the façade and approved a plan to close the main building for two years while keeping the 2019 addition, The REACH, open for limited programming.

NPR

The Kennedy Center, a federal memorial created by Congress in 1964, added Trump’s name to the façade in December 2025 after Trump appointed himself chairman. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the letters removed in May 2026, ruling that only Congress may change the Center’s name. The letters were taken down on June 13 after an appeals court declined to stay the order. Cooper also temporarily blocked the two-year closure slated to begin on July 5, finding the shutdown vote “ill-informed and seemingly pre-ordained.”

The Guardian

The board’s plan budgets roughly $250 million for structural repairs, new marble flooring, and about $12 million in acoustical upgrades. It calls for moving the eight-foot bronze bust of Kennedy to another campus building and replacing aging chillers and other mechanical systems. The schedule projects a reopening of the main campus in the summer of 2028, with The REACH remaining operational throughout the work.

The Guardian

• Kennedy Center leadership said the closure is needed to address “severe water damage” and “corroded steel” that threaten safety.

CBS News

• President Trump posted on Truth Social that the Center had been “tired, broken, and dilapidated,” and that the renovation would make it “the best.”

NPR

Democratic Rep. Beatty pledged to continue legal challenges, arguing the board lacked authority to rename the venue or approve a full shutdown without congressional approval.

Al Jazeera (website)

Since the name was added, several resident organizations have withdrawn. The Washington National Opera left in January, and the National Symphony Orchestra reports a deep financial crisis. Jazz musician Chuck Redd was awarded more than $252,000 in legal fees after the Center sued him for canceling a December 2025 performance following the name change. A large tarp covers the façade, and scaffolding remains in place.

NPR

• Renovation timeline: The board projects a 2028 reopening, but the sequencing of phased work and impact on scheduled performances remain unclear.

NPR

• Legal status of the name change: Judge Cooper’s May order remains in effect; the board’s resolution directs officials to act “by all legal means,” but no court has yet ruled on the latest attempt.

New York Times

• “The evidence of any such review is nil.” — Judge Cooper

NPR

• “This morning’s decision to close the Center and the surprise agenda item to put Donald Trump’s name back on the building was more of the same,” — Rep. Beatty

Time Magazine

• “It’s very normal that when people do good things, there’s going to be some kind of recognition,” — Zampolli, a longtime friend of Trump’s

(The) Atlantic

• “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” — Judge Cooper

NBC News

The board must submit a detailed financial and operational plan to Judge Cooper by the court-ordered August deadline. The judge will then decide whether the closure vote satisfies the required statutory obligations, determining if the two-year shutdown and the contested name inscription will proceed.

The Guardian