Kennedy Center closes amid financial crisis and Trump name dispute

The board of Kennedy Center in Washington, DC has voted to shutter the historic venue’s doors, citing what it described as a dire financial crisis amid critically needed renovations.

The board, comprised of allies of US President Donald Trump, met on Tuesday just hours after US District Judge Casey Cooper blocked the latest effort to add US President Donald Trump’s name back to the venue.

The closure marks the latest escalation in a months-long standoff between the courts and Trump after previous attempts to close the country’s premier performing arts centre. After a judge ruled that changing the building’s name to include Trump required congressional approval, the president’s appointed board has argued that the building’s survival hinged on keeping his name on its facade.

Trump responded to the closure in a social media post, writing that the board voted to close the venue for “safety reasons”. The president said renovations would not move forward unless they added his name to the building.

Judge Cooper on Tuesday ruled that a proposed name change, which would have inscribed the phrase “restored and renovated by President Donald J Trump” beneath existing signage, violates a previous order blocking the performing arts venue’s board of trustees from renaming the building.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote in his decision.

The decision amounts to another legal defeat for the Kennedy Center’s board that has unsuccessfully sought to add his name to the historic venue.

Shortly after the ruling was handed down, Trump harshly criticised it, claiming the venue is currently “in a virtual state of collapse” that he has only been trying to help.

“The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have,” Trump wrote.

The president’s name was first added to the building in December 2025 before Cooper ruled in May that was unlawful and ordered Trump’s name removed. The board complied, but tarps and scaffolding still conceal the area where the signage is located.

The legal team representing US Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty – who, as an ex officio board member, sued to block Trump administration changes to the venue – praised Tuesday’s ruling as a “victory for the memory” of former President John F Kennedy and the nation.

“Two times the court has told Trump the same thing: You are not above the law,” lawyers Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said in a statement. “Legal sanity has once again prevailed over Trump’s vanity.”

Beatty echoed her lawyers and chastised Trump for what she described as holding the “Kennedy Center hostage”.

“The law is extremely clear: The John F Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy—and no one else,” Beatty said.

“This unlawfulness is as breathtaking as it is wrong, and it needs to stop,” she added.

The ruling comes a day after the Washington Post reported the venue is on the verge of bankruptcy and could close as soon as Tuesday.

According to the report, trustees argued that putting Trump’s name on the building’s facade would be the only way to avoid “certain fiscal collapse”.

Without specifying, Trump hinted at possible further actions he – or the venue’s board – could take after Tuesday’s ruling.

“I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed to do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!” he wrote about the venue.

“We have already wasted more than 6 months “playing around” in Court. Time is our Enemy! The Board, comprised of some of the most prominent and respected people in our Nation, is meeting again today. It will be interesting to see what happens!

Al Jazeera has reached out to current and former members of the Kennedy Center’s board, but has not yet heard back.