Trump’s name kept off Kennedy Center in another court setback after mail-in ballot blow
WASHINGTON, DC: After a mail-in ballot setback on Monday, Sept 14, President Donald Trump was handed another blow by a federal judge, who blocked the Kennedy Centre’s move to install Trump’s name on the building’s facade.
The push to bring Trump’s name on the center’s wall has progressed through a series of key steps, beginning in December 2025 when Trump-aligned board voted to change the venue's public signage to read “The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
Inscription thanking Trump for renovation would ‘buck’ federal court
US District Judge on Tuesday, Sept 15 blocked board’s latest attempt to add President Donald Trump’s name to the building.
Casey Cooper said a proposal to add an inscription thanking the president for renovating and restoring the institution’s edifice, along with a move to rename the center’s campus after him – “bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”
The ruling was issued just before Trump allies dominated board of trustees is stacked with Trump allies, was set to meet.
“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote.
The court’s decision block push to thank Trump for restoration by inscribing his name comes after Court blocked the board’s move to change the Kennedy Center’s name to include Trump, and to close the center completely as repair work was done on it.
Board tried to inscribe Trump’s name as a Thank-You
An August 13 proposal adopted by the board would have affixed the text “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J Trump” to the center’s facade.
Although board initially planned to install Trump’s name this month, the board’s lawyers told Cooper it would wait until October 8 so he could rule on the legality of such a move.
Cooper’s decision is the latest development in the months- longs lawsuit brought by Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat who serves as an ex-officio member of the board.
Before court’s ruling, Beatty said she would oppose any new attempts by the board to put his name on the building.
Trump blasted the judge on social media in anticipation that Cooper would rule against the name-change and would prevent the Kennedy Center from being closed to address, in Trump’s words, “Building Safety.”
“A very hostile and conflicted Judge (What else is new?) seems like he won’t let that happen, in which case, unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Supreme Court block implementation of mail-in ballot rules
The Kennedy Centre setback came only a day after the Supreme Court rejected the federal government’s mail-in ballot proposal for the third time by refusing to let the government implement the US Postal Service (USPS) restrictions on mail-in ballots.
Trump administration had directed the USPS to implement strict, uniform ballot and envelope requirements. Under the new rules, states would need to submit lists of eligible mail-in voters to the Postal Service.
The order gave the USPS authority to refuse to deliver any ballot that didn’t match the details shared by the state.
