Donald Trump’s Name Removed from Kennedy Center in Pre-dawn Operation

Workers removed US President Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center in the early hours of Saturday, less than six months after it was installed, in compliance with a court ruling that the performing arts landmark cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.

The operation began at around 1.20am (0520 GMT), hours after the Department of Justice said the government would miss a court-ordered deadline of 11.59pm on Friday to remove Trump’s name from the Washington venue, which was established half a century ago in honour of an assassinated president.

The centre’s board, which Trump chairs, voted in December to rename it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Centre for the Performing Arts. Workers began installing his name on the building the following day.

After scaffolding was erected late on Friday, workers covered the temporary structure with tarpaulins in the pre-dawn hours and were seen removing the lettering at around 3.10am in an operation that lasted about 30 minutes.

On Friday evening, the Department of Justice told the court it would miss the deadline, citing thunderstorms that could pose safety risks for workers, and sought a 12-hour extension.

Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the lawsuit that led to the order to remove Trump’s name, described the request to extend the deadline as “inexcusable” and part of “a pattern of non-compliance”, according to court filings.

The centre opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat assassinated in 1963. Trump, a Republican, has appointed allies to its board of trustees since returning to office last year.

Earlier on Friday, a federal judge in Washington declined the Justice Department’s request to pause the order pending appeal. US District Judge Christopher Cooper said he would not suspend the ruling while the case was under review, maintaining that only Congress has the authority to rename the venue.

The administration has appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which also rejected its request for a temporary pause.

The White House and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In his ruling on 29 May, Judge Cooper said only Congress could rename the arts centre and ordered Trump’s name to be removed from the façade, website and other materials.

The Justice Department argued in its appeal filing that it “does not make sense to alter the centre’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal”.

Separately, Trump announced in February a two-year closure of the centre for major renovation works. He has also advanced broader plans to reshape Washington’s monumental core, including a proposed 250-foot arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the White House East Wing, which he had demolished in October.

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