President Donald Trump unleashed a furious tirade on social media, declaring he’s done with the Kennedy Center after a judge ruled he can’t slap his name on it. The ruling came from Judge Christopher Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington.
“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump fumed.
He accused Judge Cooper and the Radical Left of preferring to see the center “DIE” rather than allow him to transform it into a source of pride.
The ruling blocks a December decision by the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, which was packed with Trump appointees, to rename it The Trump Kennedy Center.
Shortly after taking office, Trump fired the center’s board chair and removed several trustees before appointing himself as board chair. In May 2025, the newly formed board voted to prevent ex officio members from voting.
In March, Trump announced plans for a two-year closure of the center starting in July for extensive renovations.
Now, he claims his administration is “working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
Upon taking control, Trump slammed the center for being “woke” and promised to eliminate drag shows and “other anti-American propaganda.”
This backlash led several artists to cancel their performances at the center, including Issa Rae, Rhiannon Giddens, and the band Low Cut Connie.
Major productions like “Hamilton” and “Les Miserables” also pulled their tour dates from the venue.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, filed a lawsuit in December 2025 aimed at blocking the board’s decision to rename the center and its two-year closure.
“Let’s be clear: remodeling the premises will not restore the Kennedy Center to what it was. A return to artistic independence will,” she stated earlier this year. “America’s artists are rejecting this attempted takeover, and the administration knows it.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) labeled Trump’s attempt to overhaul the center without Congressional approval as illegal.
“The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action,” he told reporters.
