Scaffolding and tarps cover the building at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on Monday, June 15, 2026.
El Drago Washington Post | getty images
A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restore his name to the Kennedy Center as he challenged a lower court order that removed his name from the Washington performing arts venue in June.
The three-judge panel said Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board, in their motion to stay the lower court order, failed to show that they would be “irreparably injured” without restoring his name.
“Since that removal has already taken place … a moratorium would not prevent those damages (even assuming they would qualify as irreparable),” the panel said. US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in this order.
The panel also said that Trump and the board failed to provide any “specific facts and evidence” that the center’s fundraising efforts would be harmed if Trump’s name were not included.
The judges also rejected Trump and the board’s argument that “a new entity called ‘The Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation’ would no longer be able to raise funds and that all funds ‘raised or committed’ would have to be returned to him if the ‘Trump’ name is not returned to the Kennedy Center’s facade.”
“Appellants never raised that factual dispute in the district court, and they have offered no explanation for failing to do so,” the panel said. “Such post-hoc reasoning cannot demonstrate an abuse of discretion by the district court.”
The decision means Trump’s name will remain off the Kennedy Center while an appeal by a federal district court judge in Washington to remove it is pursued. The same appeals court will hear Trump’s appeal of the May 29 order removing his name from the center.
CNBC has requested comment from the Justice Department, which represents Trump and the board in its appeal.
One of the judges on the appeals panel, Gregory Katsas, was appointed by Trump. the other two, patricia millet And robert wilkinsWas appointed by former President Barack Obama.
On June 12, the same panel rejected Trump’s request for an administrative stay, which would have prevented him from removing his name from the front of the Kennedy Center that night to comply with District Court Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 order.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper said in that order, noting that Congress had not authorized such a change.
Cooper wrote, “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes absolutely clear that the Center is to be named for President (John) Kennedy, and that it may not bear any other formal name or public memorial at the discretion of the Board.”
The board added Trump’s name to the center in December, 10 months after Trump removed several trustees from the board and appointed himself a trustee. He is also the board chairman.
Soon afterward, Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, sued Trump in an attempt to clear her name. Beatty is an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center Board.