Judges deny request to return Trump’s name to Kennedy Center pending an appeal

People walk near the tarp covered front entrance of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts before the start of the 27th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Celebrating Bill Maher, Sunday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

A three-judge panel on Wednesday denied a request from the Kennedy Center’s board to restore U.S. President Donald Trump’s name to the institution while the board appeals an earlier ruling that dubbed the name change illegal and had it rescinded.

It’s another setback for the board of trustees, of which Trump is chairman, in a saga that began earlier this year when the Kennedy Center became: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

The conspicuous addition, and ensuing legal battle, became symbolic of Trump’s broader push to imprint his legacy — and, in this case, his actual name — on the nation’s capitol in his final term.

The panel of judges wrote Wednesday that the request “failed to show how they will be irreparably injured” if Trump’s name remains off the building through the appeal process.

The board had argued that the the removal “threatens to impede” fundraising efforts, but the judges found that claim came without the support of “specific facts or evidence.”

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

A federal judge earlier this year ruled that the name change was illegal, and Trump’s name was removed from the building’s white marble facade in June. A large tarp still obscures the place on the building where Trump’s name had been.

Jesse Bedayn, The Associated Press