Kennedy Center Begins Dropping Trump Name

BreakingBusinessKennedy Center Begins Dropping Trump NameByConor Murray,Forbes Staff. Murray is a Forbes news reporter covering entertainment trends.Follow AuthorJun 08, 2026, 03:33pm EDTToplineThe Kennedy Center performing arts venue dropped President Donald Trump’s name from its website Monday ahead of a court deadline to do so, though it has not yet been removed from the building’s exterior.The exterior of the Kennedy Center still bears Trump's name as of Monday. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsTrump’s name no longer appears on the Kennedy Center website as of Monday afternoon, dropping its former branding as the “Trump Kennedy Center” following Trump’s push to rename the national cultural center after himself.The change comes days before a court deadline for the center to abandon Trump’s name, after a U.S. district judge ruled the center’s name cannot be changed without an act of Congress.The center also referred to itself as the “Kennedy Center"—not the “Trump Kennedy Center”—in a Monday email sent to members announcing a list of guest speakers set to attend a ceremony later this month where Bill Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Associated Press reported.Trump’s name remains on the exterior of the center’s Washington, D.C., building as of Monday afternoon, the Washington Post reported.Last week, the Kennedy Center ordered staff to scrub references to Trump and change all official materials to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center” by the court-imposed June 12 deadline, including in email signatures, signs, brochures and the center’s website. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d0...