Kennedy Center Establishes New Endowment in President Trump’s Name

Kennedy Center Board Creates Trump-Named Endowment Amid Naming Fight

The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has escalated its dispute over Donald Trump’s name by voting to establish a new endowment in his honor while also seeking to pause a federal order that would force the removal of his name from the building.

At a board meeting on Thursday, June 11, the center’s trustees voted unanimously to create the Trump Kennedy Center Fund. Trump chairs the board, which is composed largely of his allies. The same board also approved an emergency appeal aimed at staying a ruling from Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington, who found last month that the institution lacked the authority to rename itself the “Trump Kennedy Center.” Cooper ordered the center to restore its official title, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, by Friday, June 12.

The center said in a statement from vice president of public relations Roma Davari that it remains “fully compliant with the court’s directive” while it weighs legal options. Davari said the new fund is intended to recognize Trump’s “significant contributions and dedication to America’s premier cultural center,” while advancing the institution’s founding mission. An unnamed Kennedy Center official told CBS News that the endowment represents “a landmark commitment” to long-term financial sustainability, and another anonymous source said it is expected to support the building’s physical repair and maintenance.

The move comes after a turbulent winter for the institution. The board’s December vote to rename the center triggered swift backlash from Democratic lawmakers and prompted more than two dozen performers to cancel appearances, including composer Philip Glass, who had been scheduled to premiere a new symphony.

Cooper’s ruling also said the board acted unlawfully in approving a two-year closure for renovations. In their filing, attorneys for the Kennedy Center and Trump argued that removing the president’s name only to restore it later, if the appeal succeeds, would waste both “time and money.”

Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who sued the administration over the name change and planned closure, called the ruling “the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people.” The legal fight now sits at the intersection of governance, branding, and public funding, with roughly $257 million in federal renovation money already appropriated for the center’s building work.