A federal judge ordered the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ruling the White House's rebranding of the iconic institution is illegal.
U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, in a opinion issued May 29, ordered the Kennedy Center remove Trump's name from the institution's title, including taking down the recently installed signage on the center's facade and stripping it from other materials.
The judge said the Kennedy Center's board of trustees, made up of primarily Trump loyalists, violated the federal law that created the center, arguing it makes clear "the Kennedy Center must be named for, and is meant to honor, President Kennedy alone."
The judge's ruling ‒ a major blow to Trump's efforts to rebrand the building for himself ‒ decided a case brought by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy's Center board of trustees who opposed the name change.