Trump moves to nand Kennedy Centre to Congress after court ruling

US President Donald Trump said on Friday, May 29, that his administration would transfer control of the Kennedy Centre to Congress, following a court ruling that blocked his efforts to rename the institution and halt its operations for renovations.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had instructed the US Commerce Department to “make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution” and give lawmakers responsibility for its operation, maintenance and management, as per Reuters.

It remains unclear how such a transfer would be implemented. The Kennedy Centre, created by Congress in 1958, is currently overseen by a board of trustees, which Trump has filled with allies during his second term.

The announcement came after US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the performing arts venue cannot be renamed the “Trump Kennedy Centre” without congressional approval. Cooper ordered the administration to remove all signage bearing Trump’s name and eliminate any references to a “Trump Kennedy Centre” from official materials within 14 days.

“The Kennedy Centre's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Centre 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,” Cooper wrote. “Congress gave the Kennedy Centre its name, and only Congress can change it.”

The judge also blocked the administration’s plan to close the centre for two years for major renovations, although he said “sorely needed” repairs could proceed. Cooper emphasised that his ruling “does not purport to dictate how the Centre should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure, or otherwise — moving forward.”

Trump argued that the planned renovations, scheduled to begin next month, could not be carried out without closing the building and warned that keeping it open would pose safety risks. “I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” he said.

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who serves on the Kennedy Centre’s board by virtue of her position in Congress. Beatty said after the decision that the “Kennedy Centre is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump.”

Her attorneys, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, welcomed the ruling, calling it “a powerful blow against the Trump administration’s corruption.”

Cooper noted that the board could still decide to close the centre if it “comes to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Centre in a prudent fashion.”

Trump’s renovation proposal is part of a broader effort to reshape Washington’s monumental core. Plans include constructing a 250-foot arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House. These projects are also facing legal challenges, although a federal appeals court has allowed work on the ballroom to proceed while litigation continues.

The Kennedy Centre opened in 1971 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.

By Tamilla Hasanova