Federal Judge Blocks Trump Name Addition to Kennedy Center, Orders Removal

A U.S. District Judge has dealt a significant blow to efforts to rename the iconic John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Judge Christopher Cooper issued a ruling that blocks the administration from both closing the venue for a two-year repair period and affixing Trump's name to the building. The court declared the naming initiative unlawful and mandated its removal.

The administration has been given a 14-day window to strip Trump's name from the center's physical location as well as its website.

In his decision, Judge Cooper characterized the board's choice to shut down the performing arts center for two years of repairs as an "ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision," according to reporting from NBC News.

"The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one," the judge wrote in his opinion.

The ruling did leave room for potential future action, however. Cooper noted that while the preliminary injunction stands, it would not necessarily block the center from undertaking the capital repair work already in its pipeline—work the record shows is genuinely necessary. He also indicated the board could theoretically revisit a closure decision, provided it makes that determination independently and with proper consideration of its various obligations.

On the matter of the building's name itself, the judge was unambiguous. "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. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," Cooper stated.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center, Roma Daravi, signaled the board's intention to challenge the decision. "We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board's will to recognize President Trump's historic contributions to our nation's cultural center," Daravi said in response.

Meanwhile, the controversy has affected other cultural programming tied to the administration. A number of artists have withdrawn from participation in Trump's "Freedom 250" concert.