A federal appeals court on Friday evening denied a last minute effort to stop a lower court’s order instructing Trump to remove his name from the Kennedy Center.

Last month, a federal judge blocked President Trump from closing the Kennedy Center and ordered his name removed from the building by midnight tonight.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, said renaming the Kennedy Center was illegal.

Judge Cooper issued a ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by Democrat Ohio Congressman Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees.

Of course, Deep State lawyer Norm Eisen spearheaded the lawsuit and gloated after the judge sided with his client.

BREAKING: we just won our Kennedy Center case!

Both the renaming & the closure of the Kennedy Center are enjoined

Kudos to our wonderful client @RepBeatty
& my colleagues @DDAction_ & Washington Litigation Group

This is a 1-2 punch against Trump's corruption pic.twitter.com/mFGKX5tum0

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) May 29, 2026

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote in a 94-page opinion.

In February, President Trump announced that the Trump Kennedy Center would be shuttered for two years for major renovations.

Last year, the Kennedy Center Board elected President Trump as Board Chair.

The Trump Kennedy Center was set to close down on July 4, 2026, and reopen as a “World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment.”

After Judge Cooper’s order, the Kennedy Center’s leadership requested a stay, but the DC Circuit Court of Appeals denied their last-minute bid to stop the removal.

The three-judge panel included two Obama appointed judges (Millett, Wilkins) and one Trump judge (Katsas).

JUST IN: The DC Circuit has denied an immediate stay of the order requiring Trump’s name to be removed from the Kennedy Center pic.twitter.com/zDPn3Ajjeq

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 12, 2026

It is unclear if the Kennedy Center’s leadership will take further action to stop the removal of Trump’s name as time runs out.

Live feed of the crews working to remove Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center here:

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