There was a subtle significance to the timing behind a judge ruling that President Donald Trump’s name should be removed from the Kennedy Center.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s Friday ruling—which determined that only an act of Congress can officially change the performing arts center’s name—came on the assassinated president’s birthday.
Kennedy’s niece, Kerry Kennedy, noticed the timing immediately.
“What a great way to celebrate you on your birthday, Uncle Jack!” she said, linking to an article about the ruling.
She joked that she “won’t need that pickaxe after all.”
Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. He was 46 when he was assassinated in 1963.
Maria Shriver, another niece of the late president, wrote that the ruling was “an appropriate birthday present on my uncle’s birthday today.”
Trump’s name was added to the Kennedy Center facade in December, a day after the institution’s board of Trump sycophants, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, voted to officially change its name.
Trump took over as the center’s Board Chair in February 2025 after cleaning house at the institution, which is now shut down for renovations—a decision that came only after months of performers canceling their scheduled shows and poor ticket sales for those who did not pull out.
Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member of the center, filed a lawsuit challenging both the name change and its closure.
Cooper ruled Friday that Trump’s plan to close the Kennedy Center for two years for renovations in July was, like the name change, an example of executive overreach. He issued an injunction halting the plan.
Trump, who turns 80 himself in two weeks, did not take the news of his defeat well. He posted a 600-word screed on Truth Social to whine about the ruling.
“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of,” he said.
Friday’s ruling has no bearing on Trump’s other efforts to remake D.C. in his own image, including his giant arch, White House ballroom, and his renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
