2026年5月29日 / 美国东部时间下午3:54 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：雅各布·罗森
华盛顿讯——一名联邦法官阻止肯尼迪艺术中心在计划中的翻新工程期间暂时闭馆，并裁定该中心董事会将特朗普总统的姓名添加到建筑和官方头衔中的行为非法。
在周五发布的一份长达94页的判决书中，美国地区法官克里斯托弗·库珀支持俄亥俄州民主党众议员乔伊斯·比蒂的诉讼请求。比蒂是肯尼迪艺术中心董事会信托委员，她提起诉讼，质疑该机构的更名计划以及从今年夏季开始为期两年的大规模维修闭馆安排。
法官认定，董事会单方面以特朗普先生的名字重新命名肯尼迪艺术中心的行为超越了其权限，并下令将他的姓名从“该机构的官方头衔、建筑外立面、其他实体或数字标识以及官方材料中”移除。
“肯尼迪艺术中心的组织章程明确规定，该中心应以肯尼迪总统的名字命名，仅凭董事会的单方面决定，不能使用其他正式名称或设立以其命名的公共纪念设施。国会赋予了肯尼迪艺术中心这个名字，也只有国会才能更改它，”由巴拉克·奥巴马总统任命的库珀写道。
阿尔·德拉戈 / 盖蒂图片社
在谈到即将到来的闭馆计划时，法官表示：“董事会批准特朗普总统的闭馆公告时，未能履行其对艺术中心的全部职责。”
“更具体地说，董事会的决定基于不充分、片面的信息呈现，且未考虑其法定责任的全部范围以及闭馆对节目安排和纪念活动可能产生的不利后果，”库珀写道。
他称翻新期间停止运营的决定“考虑不周，且似乎是预先注定的”。
法官还裁定，董事会“越权”剥夺了比蒂在3月会议上的投票权。比蒂作为国会代表自动获得董事会席位，当时董事会批准了今年夏季7月4日庆祝活动后闭馆翻新的计划。
今年早些时候，库珀裁定比蒂有权参与该会议，但未要求董事会允许她投票。
然而在周五的判决中，库珀表示计划中的维修工程可以继续进行，称案件中提交的证据表明维修“极其必要”。他还表示，其初步禁令并未“绝对禁止”董事会关闭肯尼迪艺术中心，“如果该董事会在以审慎方式独立平衡其对艺术中心的多项义务后重新做出这一决定”。
“通过本判决，法院无意规定艺术中心应如何运营，也未为该机构制定任何具体计划——无论是施工、闭馆还是其他方面的未来规划，”他写道。“法院只是要求肯尼迪艺术中心董事会遵守法律规定的某些最低要求。除此之外，法院将任由双方自行推进。”
周五的另一份判决中，库珀驳回了华盛顿特区保护联盟提起的类似法律挑战。
比蒂对这一判决表示欢迎。
“今天的裁决正确地确认了本届政府试图更名和关闭艺术中心的行为没有法律依据，”她在一份声明中说道。“肯尼迪艺术中心是属于全体美国人民的机构，不属于唐纳德·特朗普。他为了一己虚荣亵渎了这座神圣的纪念建筑。”
肯尼迪艺术中心的发言人罗马·达拉维表示，该机构“有信心在上诉阶段，法院将支持董事会认可特朗普总统对我国国家文化中心做出的历史性贡献的意愿”。
她重申，肯尼迪艺术中心亟需维修工作。
“特朗普总统已争取到并经国会批准的2.57亿美元资金已经到位，我们仍将致力于通过一切合法途径，确保特朗普肯尼迪中心作为全国文化地标得到修复，供所有美国人享用，”达拉维说道。
特朗普先生在其第二任期的最初几周内就试图将自己的名字与肯尼迪艺术中心绑定。总统将多名中心董事会信托委员替换为其政府高级官员和亲密盟友，随后这些人选举特朗普担任董事会主席。
董事会还罢免了长期担任的总裁一职，并任命里克·格伦内尔担任新负责人。格伦内尔曾在特朗普第一任期内担任美国驻德国大使。格伦内尔今年早些时候辞去了肯尼迪艺术中心的职务，由该机构前运营副总裁马特·弗洛卡接任。
去年12月，肯尼迪艺术中心董事会投票决定将该表演艺术机构的名称更改为“唐纳德·J·特朗普与约翰·F·肯尼迪纪念表演艺术中心”。
此次更名行动迅速展开。董事会投票数小时后，肯尼迪艺术中心的网站就更新为“特朗普肯尼迪中心”，工作人员也开始在建筑外立面添加特朗普先生的姓名。但议员和法律学者表示，此类更名需要国会采取行动。
但总统重塑肯尼迪艺术中心的举措遭到了表演艺术界的强烈反对。多名原定在该机构演出的艺术家取消了表演，在肯尼迪艺术中心演出的美国国家交响乐团执行董事也离职跳槽。
Judge blocks closure of Kennedy Center and orders removal of Trump’s name
May 29, 2026 / 3:54 PM EDT / CBS News
By Jacob Rosen
Washington— A federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center from temporarily closing its doors during proposed renovations, and ruled that the institution’s board acted unlawfully when it added President Trump’s name to the building and official title.
In a 94-page opinion on Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in favor of Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a member of the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, who filed a lawsuit challenging the institution’s name change and plans to close for two years for extensive repairs beginning this summer.
The judge found that the board overstepped its authority by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after Mr. Trump and ordered his name to be removed from “the institution’s title, as represented on the façade of the Center, any other physical or digital signage, and official materials.”
“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. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” wrote Cooper, who was named to the bench by President Barack Obama.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seen in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2026. Al Drago / Getty Images
Referring to the impending closure, the judge said that “in ratifying President Trump’s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging the full range of its responsibilities to the Center.”
“More specifically, the Board based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions,” Cooper wrote.
He called the decision to cease operations during the renovation “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”
The judge also ruled that the board had “overstepped” its power by stripping Beatty, an ex officio member through her role in Congress, of her right to vote at a March meeting where the board approved the plan to close the center after this summer’s July 4 celebrations.
Earlier this year, Cooper ruled that Beatty was entitled to participate in the meeting, but did not require that the board allow her to vote.
In his Friday ruling, however, Cooper said that planned repair work can continue, saying the evidence put forward in the case indicates it is “sorely needed.” He also said his preliminary injunction does not “categorically” bar the board from closing the Kennedy Center “should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.”
“By way of this opinion, the Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure, or otherwise — moving forward,” he wrote. “It simply holds the Kennedy Center Board to certain minimum requirements imposed by law. Beyond that, the Court will let the parties play on.”
In a separate decision on Friday, Cooper denied a similar legal challenge brought by the D.C. Preservation League.
Beatty cheered the decision.
“Today’s ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law,” she said in a statement. “The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity.”
Roma Daravi, spokeswoman for the Kennedy Center, said the institution is “confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”
She reiterated that the Kennedy Center requires repair work.
“With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy,” Daravi said.
Mr. Trump moved to put his mark on the Kennedy Center in the opening weeks of his second term. The president replaced several members of the center’s Board of Trustees with senior members of his administration and close allies, who then elected Mr. Trump chair.
The board also moved to oust its longtime president, and installed Ric Grenell, who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany in the first Trump administration, as its new leader. Grenell left his post helming the Kennedy Center earlier this year and was replaced by Matt Floca, the institution’s former vice president of operations.
In December, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to change the performing arts institution’s name to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The changes were instituted swiftly. Hours after the board’s vote, the Kennedy Center’s website was updated to read “The Trump Kennedy Center” and crews went to work adding Mr. Trump’s name to the building’s facade. But lawmakers and legal scholars said such a change required action by Congress.
But the president’s moves to reshape the Kennedy Center were met with backlash from the performing arts community. Several artists who were set to perform at the institution canceled performances and the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the Kennedy Center, left for a new job.
