All posts tagged: Kennedy

No More ‘Trump’ at the Kennedy Center

No More ‘Trump’ at the Kennedy Center

Published by Daniella Wilson

When a board packed with Donald Trump’s allies voted in December to add the president’s name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the transformation happened almost immediately. By the following morning, crews had worked quickly to fasten 18 letters to the institution’s marble facade. Now that work is being quietly dismantled. In a memo obtained by The Atlantic, the Kennedy Center’s lawyers today directed employees to remove references to the center being named for anyone other than President John F. Kennedy. The note seems to suggest that Trump will accept a judge’s recent order to remove his name from the center. “This includes email signatures, email communications, letterhead, website, brochures, promotional materials, press releases, signs, references in contracts, MOUs, and other agreements, and every other reference to the ‘Trump Kennedy Center,’ the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, or similar name,” read the email, which I obtained. Less than a week ago, a federal judge ordered the institution to remove all references suggesting …

Caroline Kennedy pays tribute to daughter Tatiana Schlossberg for first time since her death

Caroline Kennedy pays tribute to daughter Tatiana Schlossberg for first time since her death

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Caroline Kennedy has publicly paid tribute to her youngest daughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, for the first time since her untimely death. Tatiana, the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy and former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died in December at age 35, weeks after revealing her terminal cancer diagnosis in a poignant essay for The New Yorker. Over the weekend, Caroline, 68, delivered a speech at the annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award ceremony, held at her late father’s presidential library in Boston. “Politics is a family endeavor and I am so grateful to the members of my family who are here tonight and whose support over many years has kept my father’s spirit alive and made this institution a living memorial,” …

Trump Blasts “Barack Hussein Obama Judge” After Kennedy Center Renovation Blocked

Trump Blasts “Barack Hussein Obama Judge” After Kennedy Center Renovation Blocked

Published by Jenni Sidey

President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the planned closure and renovation of the Kennedy Center, accusing the Obama-appointed judge of halting what Trump described as a badly needed structural and aesthetic overhaul of the performing arts venue. In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said millions of dollars in marble, furniture, steel, heating, air conditioning, and other materials had been ordered or were about to be ordered for what he called a “magnificent structural and aesthetic rebuilding” of the center. He argued the building had serious problems involving rust, rot, pests, failing pipes, aging HVAC systems, and structural beams that needed replacement, making it unsafe to keep audiences inside during major construction. Trump also attacked Cooper personally, alleging a conflict of interest involving the judge’s wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, and tying the Kennedy Center ruling to broader complaints about what he called a “rigged” court system. He said the decision could force the center to remain open despite safety concerns and warned that the institution may soon close …

Trump’s angry tirade after judge blocks “Trump Kennedy Center”

Trump’s angry tirade after judge blocks “Trump Kennedy Center”

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump is threatening to hand control of the Kennedy Center back to Congress after a federal judge blocked plans to rename the institution the “Trump Kennedy Center” and prevented the administration from moving forward with a controversial closure for renovations. In a lengthy Truth Social post Friday night, Trump blasted U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, for ruling against the administration’s plans and accused Democrats of caring more about opposing him than preserving the iconic performing arts center. “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,” Trump wrote. The president claimed the Kennedy Center suffers from serious structural problems, including “rotting beams” and parking areas allegedly at risk of collapse. He argued that renovations could not be completed while the facility remains open and said the administration had hoped to transform the center into “the Finest Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.” But much of Trump’s frustration appeared directed at …

Maria Shriver celebrates judge’s decision to remove Trump’s name from Kennedy Center

Maria Shriver celebrates judge’s decision to remove Trump’s name from Kennedy Center

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Maria Shriver has responded to a federal judge’s order to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. On Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., blocked Trump from renaming the performing space to “Trump-Kennedy Center,” saying Congress made it “crystal clear” that the building is to be named after former President John F. Kennedy. Cooper also said the center “cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial” based on a “unilateral say-so” from a Trump-appointed board. Shriver — the daughter of John F. Kennedy’s sister, Eunice Kennedy — expressed her excitement about the decision Friday, on what would have been Kennedy’s 109th birthday. “An appropriate birthday present on my uncle’s birthday today,” she wrote on Threads. “A federal judge ruled that President Trump and the Kennedy Center Board acted unlawfully …

Trump Hasn’t Left Much Kennedy Center to Stay Open

Trump Hasn’t Left Much Kennedy Center to Stay Open

Published by Daniella Wilson

For months, the dwindling ranks of staffers at the Kennedy Center have been bracing for July, when the Washington, D.C., arts complex had been slated to shut down. How the bruised institution would bounce back after a two-year closure ordered by the president of the United States—and what it would look like once it did—were major questions. This week brought an even bigger one: How could it possibly stay open? In a pair of rulings today, a federal judge dealt two blows to Trump’s stewardship of the Kennedy Center, which he took over last year: U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal within two weeks of Trump’s name from the institution, which Congress established as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964, and he partially granted a preliminary injunction, saying that the center had to halt plans to close. “There is no evidence that the Board took account of its full range of statutory obligations in determining that a wholesale shuttering of the Kennedy Center was appropriate,” Cooper wrote in a …

Trump can’t add name to Kennedy Center, judge rules

Trump can’t add name to Kennedy Center, judge rules

Published by Sam Flores

The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on May 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Al Drago | Getty Images News | Getty Images A federal judge on Friday barred President Donald Trump from adding his name to that of the Kennedy Center, as he did in late December, ruling that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Judge Christopher Cooper also temporarily blocked the Washington, D.C., performing arts landmark, which in December had been renamed the “Trump Kennedy Center,” from being closed for two years for renovations at the behest of the president, who is chair of its Board of Trustees. Cooper’s order came in response to a lawsuit by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio Kennedy Center trustee, whose civil complaint challenged the renaming, the closure of the center for renovations, and being stripped of her voting rights by board in May 2025. Cooper, in his ruling, said the Kennedy Center’s board did not balance its obligations to …

President Trump’s name must come off of the Kennedy Center, judge rules : NPR

President Trump’s name must come off of the Kennedy Center, judge rules : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP A federal judge has blocked President Trump from adding his name to the Kennedy Center, saying that the Washington, D.C. arts complex was named for the late president John F. Kennedy. In a ruling on Friday, the judge also temporarily blocked the administration from closing the Kennedy Center for a planned two-year renovation that was slated to begin in July. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper wrote in his ruling that: “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” A Kennedy Center spokesperson told NPR in an email Friday afternoon that it will appeal the decision. Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the complex, wrote: “We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration – a truth that even the …

Judge temporarily halts Kennedy Center closure and orders removal of Trump’s name from building

Judge temporarily halts Kennedy Center closure and orders removal of Trump’s name from building

Published by Sam Flores

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing the Kennedy Center for repairs and ordered the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the building and its website. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled Friday that Trump’s handpicked board did not have the authority to rename the facility on its own. “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” the judge wrote in his 94-page decision, issued on Kennedy’s birthday. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Trump blasted the ruling in a lengthy post on Truth Social and suggested that for now he was washing his hands of the institution he named himself chair of last year. “I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish …