A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot be added to the official name of the Kennedy Center without an act of Congress.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, determined that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees overstepped its statutory authority by unilaterally renaming the venue in December as “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
In his ruling, Cooper stated: “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.” He added, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
As part of his ruling, the Trump administration must remove all physical signage bearing Trump’s name and eliminate any references to a “Trump-Kennedy Center” from official materials.
Spokesperson Roma Daravi for the Kennedy Center Board expressed confidence that an appeal would uphold the Board’s decision. The board’s office did not return calls for comment.