Donald Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center building and website after judge's ruling

An official at the Kennedy Center has confirmed that all references to Donald Trump inside and outside the building, as well as online, have been removed to comply with a court order.

Construction workers began taking down the US president's name from the building's facade early on Saturday morning.

It has been six months since a board was handpicked by Mr Trump and voted to rebrand the iconic performing arts venue in Washington DC by adding his name to it.

But last month, a federal judge ruled that the US president's name must be removed by 12 June, writing that the centre's board did not have the authority to unilaterally rename the building.

"Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," US district judge Christopher Cooper wrote on 29 May.

In a last-ditch effort to halt the judge's order, the venue sought to block it late Thursday.

The judge denied that request on Friday, hours before the deadline for removing Mr Trump's name.

In seeking to block the judge's order, the centre argued for the first time that taking Mr Trump's name off the building would result in having to return hundreds of millions of dollars it had raised for renovations due to a previously unannounced change to the venue's bylaws.

The filing said the "reason for this clause is that people and companies, who have given, or will be giving, millions of dollars to the Center were only willing to do so with the name 'Trump' on the Building".

It does not say how, when or where the change was made to the centre's bylaws.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to inquiries from Sky's US partner NBC News about when the changes were made and exactly how much money might be at risk.

Read more from Sky News:
US-Iran deal to be signed
Anthropic withdraws AI model
Tartan Army at World Cup

Late Friday night, the Justice Department sought a 12-hour delay, blaming thunderstorms.

Last week, lawyers for the Kennedy Center directed staff to remove Donald Trump's name from all official signage in the building to comply with the judge's order on 29 May.

His name was no longer visible on the centre's website on Monday, and the site reverted to its previous branding.

The ruling in May also blocked a planned two-year closure of the centre, which had been sought by Mr Trump's board to undertake renovations.

The judge called those plans an "ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision".

(c) Sky News 2026: Donald Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center building and website after judge's ruling