Last week federal judge Christopher Cooper ordered The Kennedy Center to remove anything and everything that does not carry the name The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts…and NOTHING else!
U.S. District Judge Cooper gave The Kennedy Center board two weeks to comply with the order.
Now, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is not committing to making sure the offensive material is removed from the wall of The Kennedy Center…website and so forth.
Burgum spoke on the CNN program “State of the Union” saying, “I’m not sure if that’s going to be appealed or not, but I think, you know, there’s controversy on both sides of this about that ruling.”
In his ruling, Judge Cooper cited the 1964 statute that created The Kennedy Center in his opinion saying it was, “crystal clear that the center is to be named for President John F. Kennedy only. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Last December the partisan loyalist board at The Kennedy Center voted to add a name to the building; adding the name of the current White House resident.
According to the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in her social media post the name change was “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”
In addition, Judge Cooper ruled that the planned repairs at The Kenndy Center could go on; however, it could not be shut down for the planned two years beginning next month. He noted that the decision was, “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”
Judge Cooper further noted that should the decision to close The Center go through, the board needs sufficient information to make an “independent decision, taking account of “its obligation to both maintain and operate a premiere arts venue, while memorializing Kennedy.”
Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravi noted that the board was, “confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”
After Judge Copper handed down his decision, the social media outlet Truth Social was flooded with ranting and criticism aimed not only at the decision itself but Judge Cooper and his wife (who incidentally has no bearing on the ruling or Kennedy Center events). The rants added up to nearly 1,500 words!
In another ranting social media post it stated he had, “canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge.”
Since the hostile takeover in February 2025, there have been numerous reports of the dilapidated condition of the iconic building; while workers, staff, and artists opposed the remarks.
In preparation for the planned shut down, the board has laid off all but a skeleton crew and now the fate of the National Symphony Orchestra is in jeopardy.
After the hostile takeover last year, there were numerous resignations by advisors and staff with several performances getting cancelled.
After the board voted for the renaming, another round of cancellations occurred including the National Opera severing ties with The Kennedy Center and finding themselves a new home.
However, some of those artists may make a return once the Performing Arts Center is once again simply the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts; including the Lin-Manuel Miranda smash hit musical “Hamilton”.