Trump threatens to halt Kennedy Centre repairs after court blocks his name from facade

The board of the Kennedy Centre has voted to close the national performing arts institution for two years, triggering a fresh clash with a federal judge who ruled that Donald Trump's name must stay off the building.

The vote on Tuesday to shut the landmark Washington venue immediately for emergency repairs came less than an hour after US District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the board's latest plan to carve Trump's name into the facade.

Responding to the ruling on Truth Social, Trump threatened to halt the multi-million dollar project entirely if he does not get his way. He wrote that the board had voted "almost unanimously" to close for safety, but warned that "the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place" unless a higher court, potentially the Supreme Court, reverses the decision.

A battle over branding

The dispute is the latest in a long-running battle over the identity of the arts centre, which Congress established in 1963 as a living memorial to the assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Since returning to office, Trump has sought to stamp his brand on the capital, installing himself as the centre's chairman and replacing several trustees. In December, the reshaped board voted to rename the venue the "Trump-Kennedy" Center, quickly affixing his name to the front portico.

That move prompted a lawsuit from board member Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democratic congresswoman, who accused Trump of treating the memorial as a vanity project. Judge Cooper ordered the lettering removed in June, but the board tried again in August, approving an inscription that would read: "Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump".

On Tuesday, Cooper rejected that plan too. In his written order, the judge said the board "cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Centre without Congress's blessing." He added that federal statutes made it clear that lawmakers intended to memorialise Kennedy, "and no one else".

Safety fears and financial collapse

Trump and his allies on the board argue that the 1960s building is in a dangerous state of disrepair. The president pointed to a recent incident where a piece of the ceiling fell down after a storm, claiming "innocent people would have been killed" if the venue had been open. Last month, his administration even warned in court proceedings that the building might have to be demolished if renovations could not go ahead.

However, critics suggest the sudden closure is being used to bypass legal hurdles. While Congress has approved $250 million for renovations, and Trump claims to have raised $17 million in private donations, the centre is facing a severe financial crisis.

Internal warnings sent to the board by the centre's administration, reported by the Washington Post, revealed the institution is on the verge of bankruptcy and will be unable to cover payroll or maintenance contracts within weeks. Ticket sales have collapsed and a series of high-profile artists have cancelled scheduled performances in protest at Trump's involvement.

What happens next

Despite the board's vote, the doors cannot close immediately. The centre remains bound by an injunction issued by Judge Cooper in May, which requires it to stay open while Beatty's lawsuit is resolved.

The board is expected to formally ask the judge by Friday to lift that block, arguing that the closure is a prudent decision driven by safety. If the court refuses, the political and legal standoff over one of America's premier cultural institutions will continue to deepen.