Judge Blocks Planned Closure of Kennedy Center and Orders Trump’s Name Removed From Building (Connecting the Dots: Judge Christopher R. Cooper, Covington & Burling LLP, Eric Holder, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, John Kerry, Caroline Kennedy, NAACP, & The Carnegie/Soros Network)
The
order came in response to a lawsuit filed by a Democratic congresswoman.
The
Epoch Times
Matthew
Vadum
5/29/2026|Updated:
5/30/2026
A
federal district judge on May 29 ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be
removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and blocked
officials from shuttering the venue for two years for renovations.
Washington-based
Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued
an order temporarily halting the closure and preventing the name change.
“The Kennedy
Center’s
organic statute makes
crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it
cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s
unilateral say-so,” Cooper said.
Congress
organized the center as a “bureau” within the Smithsonian
Institution directed
by a board of trustees, he said.
The
board was given several duties, including “programming obligations,” “memorial
obligations” honoring the legacy of Kennedy, and general maintenance
obligations, the judge said.
To
satisfy these obligations, Congress “empowered the Board to do the kinds of
things that boards typically do: negotiate contracts, prepare budgets, employ
personnel, solicit and accept gifts, transfer property, bargain with employees,
procure insurance, and issue annual reports.”
The
lawsuit’s claim that the center’s board violated its fiduciary duty in voting
to close the center was “likely to succeed,” the judge said.
A
fiduciary duty is a duty of loyalty, care, and good faith that one party owes
to another in positions of trust.
“The
preliminary factual record before the Court reveals that, in ratifying
President Trump’s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging
the full range of its responsibilities to the Center,” Cooper said.
The
judge said the injunction will not prevent the center from proceeding with
capital repair work it has planned and that is “sorely needed.” Nor will it
stop the board from closing the center “should it come to this decision anew
after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a
prudent fashion.”
“Congress
gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge
said.
The new
ruling came in response to litigation initiated
in December 2025 by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) who sued Trump and the Kennedy Center board of
trustees over its renaming as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts. Beatty is an ex officio member of the center’s
board of trustees.
Days
before, the Kennedy Center board had unanimously voted to rename the
institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. That same day, new lettering was
installed on the outside of the building along with digital rebranding.
Trump
took to social media to criticize the ruling. He also suggested he would work
with Congress to give that body direct control over the center.
On
Truth Social, he said that Cooper was appointed by Democratic President Barack
Obama and added that the judge and “the Radical Left would rather see [the
center] DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone
could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life.”
To save
this “dying Performing Arts Center ... we are going to be working with Congress
to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a
determination as to what to do with it.”
“I have
instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with
Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them
the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management,” the
president said.
The
Epoch Times reached out to the judge’s chambers for comment. No reply was
received by time of publication.
Jackson
Richman contributed to this report.
Kennedy
Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Center
The John
F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy
Center, is the
national cultural center of the United States, serving as a "living
memorial" to John F. Kennedy.
Rep.
Joyce Beatty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Beatty
Joyce Marie Beatty (/ˈbeɪti/
BAY-tee, née Birdsong, March 12, 1950), is an American politician serving as
U.S. representative for Ohio's 3rd congressional district since 2013.
Early
life, education, and early political career
Beatty
served as a delegate for John Kerry on the Ohio delegation to the 2004
Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Beatty
was married to attorney and former state representative Otto Beatty Jr. She has
been a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association. She served on
the Columbus American Heart Association Board, Ohio Democratic Committee,
Women's Fund, NAACP,
and Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Judge
Christopher R. Cooper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_R._Cooper
Christopher Reid "Casey" Cooper (born 1966)[1] is an American
lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. district judge of the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia. He was appointed in 2014 by President
Barack Obama.
Career
He was
employed as an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin LLC from 1996
until its merger with Baker Botts LLP in 2001, working as a partner at the
latter firm until 2012, when he joined Covington & Burling LLP as a partner.
Personal
life
Cooper
is African-American.[30] Cooper is married to Amy Jeffress, a former Justice
Department official and national security counselor to former United States
Attorney General Eric Holder.
Connecting
the Dots:
John F. Kennedy
was the 35th president
of the United States and his daughter is Caroline Kennedy.
Caroline B.
Kennedy is John F. Kennedy’s daughter, a member of the Council
on Foreign Relations (think tank) and a director emeritus for
the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
George Soros is a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations (think tank) and the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
Rep. Joyce Beatty is
a prominent member of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and
serving as U.S. representative for Ohio's 3rd congressional district.
Eric H. Holder Jr. was
an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, the
attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for
the Barack Obama administration, a partner at Covington
& Burling LLP and Judge Christopher R. Cooper was his former
Justice Department official and national security counselor.
Judge Christopher R. Cooper
was a partner at Covington
& Burling LLP, a Justice Department official, national security
counselor to former United States
Attorney General Eric Holder
and temporarily halting the closure and preventing the name change of the Kennedy
Center.
John R. Bolton was
an associate at the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling LLP,
the national security adviser for the Donald Trump's first
Administration and of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Donald Trump
is the President for
the Donald Trump Administration and the chairman for the Kennedy
Center.
Binta N. Brown is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and
a director at Human Rights First.
William D. Zabel is the chair for the Human
Rights First, was a trustee at the Foundation to Promote Open
Society and George Soros’s divorce lawyer.
George Soros’s divorce lawyer was William D. Zabel and was the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human
Rights First.
James D. Zirin was
a director at the Human Rights First and is a senior counsel
at Sidley Austin LLP.
Mark A. Angelson was
a director at the Human Rights First and a partner at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was
an intern at Sidley Austin LLP and Maya Soetoro-Ng’s brother.
Michelle Obama was
a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Cameron F. Kerry is
a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, John F. Kerry’s brother,
Teresa Heinz Kerry’s brother-in-law and a fellow at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Newton N. Minow was
a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago and an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation
of New York.
Andrew Carnegie was
the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Ted Lieu was honored with
the Carnegie
Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award,
has represented California's 36th congressional district in the United
States House of Representatives since 2023 and is a member of
the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Astrid S. Tuminez was a program officer at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York and is the 7th President of the Utah
Valley University (Charlie Kirk Shooting).
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American
Society for Muslim Advancement.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Teresa Heinz
Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank) Cameron F. Kerry’s sister-in-law and married to John
F. Kerry.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank) the president emeritus for the Robert Trent Jones Golf
Club (Gainesville, VA) and was the president of the Economic Club
of Washington.
John G. Roberts
Jr. is an honorary member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club
(Gainesville, VA), the chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution,
the chief justice for the U.S. Supreme Court and married to Jane
Sullivan Roberts.
Mike Pence is a
regent for the Smithsonian Institution and was the vice
president for the Donald Trump administration.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. is
a regent at the Smithsonian Institution, was the vice president for
the Barack Obama Administration, the president for the Joe
Biden Administration and Evelyn S. Lieberman was his press secretary.
Evelyn S.
Lieberman was Joseph R. Biden Jr’s press secretary
and a communications director for the Smithsonian Institution.
Jane Sullivan
Roberts is married to John G. Roberts Jr. and was a partner
at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
David M.
Rubenstein was a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
LLP, Joe Biden spent Thanksgiving with him, is the president of
the Economic Club of Washington, a regent at the Smithsonian
Institution and the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Konrad Ng is a
director, Asian Pacific American Center for the Smithsonian Institution and
married to Maya Soetoro-Ng (Barack Obama’s
sister).
Shirley Ann
Jackson is a regent at the Smithsonian Institution and a
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Smithsonian
Institution and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Ann M. Fudge is
the U.S. program advisory panel chair for the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American
Society for Muslim Advancement.
Andrew Carnegie was
the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Ted Lieu was honored with the Carnegie
Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award,
has represented California's 36th congressional district
in the United States House of Representatives since 2023 and is a
member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Astrid S. Tuminez was a program officer at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York and is the 7th President of the Utah
Valley University (Charlie Kirk Shooting).
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American
Society for Muslim Advancement.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Beatrice W.
Welters was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank) and a trustee emeritus at the Kennedy Center.
James
D. Wolfensohn was an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and the chairman emeritus for the Kennedy Center.
James
A. Johnson is a corporate fund board member for the Kennedy
Center and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Smithsonian
Institution, the Brookings Institution (think tank) and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
David M.
Rubenstein is the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the president of the Economic Club of Washington, a
regent at the Smithsonian Institution, a trustee at the Kennedy Center,
was a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Joe Biden
spent Thanksgiving with him, the chairman & corporate fund board member
for the Kennedy Center and a benefactor for the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.
Beatrice W. Welters was a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank) and a trustee emeritus at the Kennedy Center.
Albert H. Small was
a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and is
a corporate fund board member for the Kennedy Center.
Robert O. Anderson was
a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a
trustee emeritus at the Kennedy Center.
Henry E. Catto was
the vice chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a
trustee emeritus at the Kennedy Center.
Alma L. Gildenhorn was
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and an honorary
trustee at the Kennedy Center.
Sidney Harman was
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a corporate
fund board member for the Kennedy Center.
Condoleezza Rice is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and was a
trustee at the Kennedy Center.
James E. Rogers is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and was a
corporate fund board member for the Kennedy Center.
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and Lester
Crown’s son.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
is James
S. Crown’s father and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is
the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago and counsel
at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was
a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was
an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, the president for the Barack
Obama administration and is Maya Soetoro-Ng’s brother.
William M. Daley was
the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration and is a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow was
a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a senior counsel
at Sidley Austin LLP and an honorary trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
Andrew Carnegie was
the founder of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
Ted Lieu was honored with
the Carnegie
Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award,
has represented California's 36th congressional district in the United States House
of Representatives since
2023 and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Astrid S. Tuminez was a program officer at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York and is the 7th President of the Utah
Valley University (Charlie Kirk Shooting).
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American
Society for Muslim Advancement.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Teresa Heinz
Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank) Cameron F. Kerry’s sister-in-law, married to John
F. Kerry, a life trustee at Carnegie Mellon University and
a trustee at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
Andrew Carnegie was
the endowed predecessor schools for the Carnegie Mellon University,
the founder for the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the founder of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the
founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank) and a supporter for the American
Society for Muslim Advancement.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank) and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society, is the founder & chairman for the Open
Society Foundations and a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Caroline B.
Kennedy is a director emeritus for the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations (think tank) and John F. Kennedy’s daughter.
John F. Kennedy
was the 35th president
of the United States and his daughter is Caroline Kennedy.
Resources:
Past Research
Report:
Caroline Kennedy to Meet Trump About Kennedy Center (Past Research on Caroline
Kennedy, The Kennedy Center, The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund
& Soros Funding, All Networking) (Past Research
on the Kennedy Center)
Monday,
February 17, 2025
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2025/02/report-caroline-kennedy-to-meet-trump.html
Obama’s
Banana Boy Runs Guns (Past Research on Eric Holder)
Thursday,
February 6, 2014
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/02/obamas-banana-boy-runs-guns.html
Former
Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton Indicted (Connecting the Dots: John
Bolton, Kirkland & Ellis, Covington & Burling, Letitia James, The Human
Rights First & Soros Funding, All Networking) (Past
Research on John Bolton, Kirkland & Ellis & Covington & Burling)
Thursday,
October 16, 2025
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2025/10/former-trump-national-security-adviser.html
Sen.
Warren Presses Amazon on Algorithmic Pricing for Schools (Connecting the Dots:
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ganesh Sitaraman, The Center for American Progress,
Amazon, HUD, The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, The Urban Institute, The U.S.
Department of Education & The Carnegie/Soros Network) (Past Research on the Carnegie Corporation New York)
Thursday,
March 12, 2026
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2026/03/sen-warren-presses-amazon-on.html
Hours
After John Kerry Demands Green Transition Accelerated – His Emissions Closet
Swings Wide Open (Connecting the Dots: Cameron Kerry, John Kerry, Teresa Heinz
Kerry, Soros, the Climate Reality Project, the Brookings Institution (think
tank), the EPA and onto the FDA, Pfizer & Johnson & Johnson. It’s the
Network That Never Ends. One Project (Climate Change) Just bleeds into the Next
(Covid Project)) (Past Research on Cameron Kerry)
Thursday,
July 21, 2022
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/07/hours-after-john-kerry-demands-green.html
Trump
Order on Smithsonian Targets Funds to Programs With 'Improper Ideology'
(Connecting the Dots: The Smithsonian Institution, The National Zoo, The
National Security Agency (NSA), The National Security Agency (NSA), The
Commercial Club of Chicago, Booz Allen Hamilton, The Friends of the National
Zoo, John G. Roberts Jr., The Economic Club of Washington, Nancy Pelosi wanted
Non-Coronavirus Pork for the Smithsonian Institution & Soros Funding, All
Networking). Ben Stein's Movie Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed, Exposes the
Smithsonian Institution. (Past Research on the Smithsonian
Institution)
Thursday,
March 27, 2025
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2025/03/trump-order-on-smithsonian-targets.html
Minneapolis-Area
Hotels Shut Down Over Safety Issues (Connecting the Dots: Hilton, Crown Family,
Commercial Club of Chicago, Aspen Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota & Soros
Funding, All Networking) (Past Research on Lester
Crown, the Commercial Club of Chicago & Aspen Institute)
Monday,
January 26, 2026
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2026/01/minneapolis-area-hotels-shut-down-over.html
Obama
appoints Muslim to special assistant in Office of Director for U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services in DHS (Past Research on
the Carnegie Mellon University, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Teresa
Heinz Kerry & Andrew Carnegie)
Sunday,
January 18, 2015
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/01/15.html
Pence
to Get Profile in Courage Award From JFK Library (Connecting the Dots: Mike
Pence, John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, David Rubenstein, The Economic
Club of Washington, The Smithsonian Institution & Soros Funding, All
Networking) (Past Research on Caroline B. Kennedy)
Monday,
May 12, 2025
