Trump's name removed from Kennedy Center in predawn operation [View all]

WASHINGTON – Workers stripped President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center on June 13, less than six months after it went up, complying with a judge's ruling that the performing arts landmark cannot be renamed without an act of Congress, according to Reuters.

The work began around 1:20 a.m., hours after the Department of Justice said the government would miss the court-ordered deadline of 11:59 p.m. on June 12 to take Trump's name off the Washington venue, created a half-century ago to honor an assassinated president.

A construction crew first showed up at the iconic arts institution on the afternoon of June 12, mounted scaffolding and, hours later, geared up to take down the president's name ‒ letter by letter ‒ from the sign on the building's facade.

Hundreds of onlookers cheered and sang God Bless America as workers in hard hats with bungee lanyards clipped to their fluorescent yellow vests prepared to remove Trump's name. Many in the crowd were dressed as if for a performance at the stately Washington, DC, venue. Onlookers were festive and chatty amid thunderstorms that threatened to delay the work. Passersby honked their car horns in approval.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/13/trump-name-removed-kennedy-center/90524528007/