Workers begin removing Trump's name from Kennedy Center

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Workers begin removing Trump's name from Kennedy Center

After courts knocked down attempts to delay the signage change, the Kennedy Center missed the Friday deadline to remove President Donald Trump's name by midnight.

June 13, 2026 at 3:33 a.m. EDT 21 minutes ago
8 min


Spectators watch as workers put up scaffolding ahead of a court-mandated deadline to remove President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center's facade. (Craig Hudson/For The Washington Post)

By Jonathan Edwards
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jonathan-edwards/

President Donald Trump's name is now being taken off the Kennedy Center.

Crews at the performing arts venue started removing it from the front of the building around 3 a.m., several hours after the center missed a federal judge's two-week deadline to do so. The judge had ruled that the decision by the center's board of trustees to rename it was illegal.

With the removal of 18 letters -- "The Donald J. Trump and" -- the building's exterior will read "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" once more. Trump's name had been on the facade for 176 days, a dramatic change to the 55-year-old memorial to an assassinated president.


A worker removes a letter from the Kennedy Center's front sign, as crews enforce a court order to take President Donald Trump's name off the building. (Craig Hudson/FTWP)

Around midnight, the center filed a request to extend the deadline to noon Saturday, saying storms had delayed the work, capping a day of construction work and a flurry of legal maneuvering.

A crowd had gathered in front of the arts venue to watch the results of a lawsuit brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio trustee who sued her fellow trustees for adding Trump's name to the title of the Kennedy Center. A federal judge agreed the move was illegal and late last month ordered the center to remove Trump's name by the end of this week.

{snip}


Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) addresses people gathered to watch the action Friday. (Craig Hudson/For The Washington Post)

{snip}


Tara Hoot, a drag performer who's spoken out against changes at the Kennedy Center, spoke and entertained on Friday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

{snip}


Demonstrators cheered the arrival of a rainbow after storm clouds. (Craig Hudson/For The Washington Post)

{snip}

Jade Tran contributed to this report.

Comments 2,238
2.3k comments
The comments express strong disapproval of Donald Trump's name being associated with the Kennedy Center, with many celebrating the decision to remove it. Commenters criticize Trump's actions as egotistical and inappropriate, viewing the removal as a victory for justice and a step towards erasing his influence. There is gratitude towards Judge Christopher Cooper for the ruling, and some commenters express a desire for further actions to diminish Trump's presence in public spaces.

By Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards is an arts and government reporter covering how the Trump administration is influencing cultural institutions -- including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian museums, the Library of Congress and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities -- and how those shifts ripple through the arts, public life and national identity.follow on Xjonathanreports
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jonathan-edwards/

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/06/12/kennedy-center-removes-trumps-name-building/

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This article, to which I had unfettered access, ran in the "Style" section. The comments are there too.

I think I've had enough of this for a while.

By now, the story may no longer be regarded as latest breaking news. Rule as you will, oh forum hosts.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Workers begin removing Trump's name from the Kennedy Center, hours after a court-ordered deadline

Politics
Workers begin removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, hours after a court-ordered deadline

By STEVEN SLOAN
Updated 4:00 AM EDT, June 13, 2026
Leer en español
Comments 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Workers began removing President Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the iconic performing arts venue’s operations.

Scaffolding was erected Friday around a section of the building that includes Trump’s name, but shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of thunderstorms that had swept through the Washington area, causing a delay.

In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”

A few hours later, workers began covering the scaffolding with tarps before they eventually started taking down Trump’s name. They packed up and left the site around 3:30 a.m., though the tarps remained, leaving it impossible to determine if all the letters had been removed.

{snip}

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Add this to update

Tarp Put Up to Block Onlookers from Watching Trump’s Name Removed From Kennedy Center


Screenshot via MS NOW.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Thanks. I think the WJLA live video feed was running for that.

Someone's was. Let me see; it was at JMG ... I hope I'm not doxxing this guy.

Random John Smith
https://www.joemygod.com/2026/06/chatter-away-overnight-open-thread-2992/#comment-6888402130

The feed is back. Everything has been covered to protect a delicate snowflake's sensitivities.

h-t-t-p-s://www.youtube.com/live/l33MmePaFI8?is=QcRqWOEZf0YkVs1B
The feed is back. Everything has been covered to protect a delicate snowflake's sensitivities.

https://www.youtube.com/live/l33MmePaFI8

I wish he would just go away. I really don't need to hear one more word out of him forever.

And good morning.

[brer cat]

4. I am so happy his name is off the Kennedy Center.

I feel that the Center is important because it is a living memorial for JFK instead of a statue in a cold building. I enjoyed many performances there when I lived in the area, and I always felt that her would have approved of this memorial. It should never be shared, especially to boost the ego of the current occupant of the WH.

[calimary]

5. Agree completely!

It’s the KENNEDY Center. Donald Trump has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with it.

[mdbl]

8. No but he has to pee on everything

Glad the judge showed him where the pee paper was located this time. I have trained puppies who are better at this than trump.

[Aviation Pro]

6. A tarp?

What a fucking travesty of a mockery of two shams of a burlesque.

Fucking infant.

Porno for Pyros got it right.

Children are innocent, yeah
Teenagers fucked up in the head
Adults are only more fucked up
And elderlies are like children

[Lonestarblue]

7. I wish we could also remove him as president. He is the most destructive in our history.

[Wonder Why]

9. To replace his name, they should put the Board of Directors on the Wall - and let them hang there unless they all resign

[louis-t]

10. And you just know they went past the deadline on purpose

to give the judge a thumb in the eye.

[jgmiller]

11. Now they have drapped tarp or cloth over the whole thing

so you can't watch the name being removed. He clearly doesn't want any video out there of his name getting ripped off something. Too bad he better get used to it once he's no longer in office.