Kennedy Center removes Trump’s name from website amid legal fight

Trump’s name disappeared from the Kennedy Center website on June 9, but it still remained on the building’s facade in Washington, exposing the split between symbolic branding and legal authority at one of the nation’s flagship arts institutions.

The online change marked an early step in compliance with a federal judge’s May 29 ruling that the Kennedy Center board had acted beyond its authority when it added Donald Trump’s name. The court gave the institution until June 12 to remove his name from physical and digital materials, including the facade, official signage and other venue materials.

Inside the center, staff were told on June 4 to begin changing email signatures, letterhead, signage, brochures, ID cards and other materials back to the original name, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The name carries the institution’s original purpose: it was established in 1964 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.

The legal fight has turned the building into a test case for who controls the identity of a national cultural institution. Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee, filed suit challenging both the name change and a planned temporary shutdown for repairs. The judge also blocked the shutdown while allowing necessary repairs to proceed, narrowing the board’s room to maneuver even as it tried to preserve the Trump branding.

That branding had expanded far beyond the building itself. Before the rollback began, Trump’s name appeared on local transportation signage and even gift-shop merchandise, showing how quickly a board decision can spill into the civic landscape once an institution’s image is recast around a political figure.

Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, said the institution was complying with the court order while evaluating legal options. The broader conflict has also echoed Trump’s approach to second-term branding elsewhere in government, including the renamed U.S. Institute of Peace and giant banners outside federal buildings.

Trump’s own posture has remained combative. He publicly lashed out at the judge and said he was giving up control of what he called a dying venue unless he was allowed to reshape it physically, financially and artistically. For now, the website rollback suggests the court’s order is taking hold. The facade still tells a different story, but only until the June 12 deadline forces the institution to make the change visible from the street as well as from a browser.