The Justice Department filed a certification in federal court one hour before a judge’s Saturday noon deadline that said President Donald Trump’s name has been “removed” from “all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds.”
The Trump administration had made a last-minute request to ask the court to step in and block the removal of Trump's name ahead of a deadline of midnight Friday.
The wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is covered in tarp after President Donald Trump’s name was removed, in Washington, June 13, 2026.
Rahmat Gul/AP Photo
The declaration from Kennedy Center executive director Matt Floca stated that in addition to removing Trump’s name from the signage, the president’s name was removed from “employees’ email signatures, employees’ email communications, letterhead, brochures, promotional materials, press releases, signs, [and] contracts.”
Trump’s name has already been removed from the Kennedy Center’s website and YouTube page.
The government requested “a short extension of time” for 12 hours until noon on June 13, saying the work “has been delayed because of thunderstorms in the District of Columbia that presented safety concerns for workers,” according to the government's latest filing.
A federal judge in D.C. ordered the Trump administration to certify by noon on Saturday that it has complied with a court order to remove Trump’s name from the granting a brief extension.
A worker removes a letter from President Donald Trump’s name from the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, June 13, 2026.
Cliff Owen/AP Photo/Cliff Owen
The extension came after a federal appeals court on Friday night denied the DOJ's request for an administrative stay of a court order that requires the removal of Trump’s name from the Washington, D.C., performing arts center.Â
In an earlier filing with the D.C. Circuit, the Trump administration argued that removing Trump’s name would stall fundraising, prevent repairs from taking place and confuse the public.Â
“No one else other than President Trump would be in the position of both rebuilding the Building, and raising the money for its operation,” the filing stated, saying the performing arts center can be ” the envy of the World,” and arguing the building could suffer a “financial and structural collapse.”
