Marking the late president’s 109th birthday, John F. Kennedy‘s family is celebrating a judge’s recent decision to preserve his namesake memorial performing arts building.
Following a federal judge’s order on Friday to remove Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center and block a two-year renovation, JFK’s niece Maria Shriver praised the “great birthday gift” for the 35th president of the United States.
“An appropriate birthday present on my uncle’s birthday today,” wrote Shriver on X. “A federal judge ruled that President Trump and the Kennedy Center Board acted unlawfully in renaming the Kennedy Center. The judge held that only Congress can change the Center’s name and blocked the planned two-year closure. I know they’ll probably appeal and the story isn’t over, but for today let’s celebrate a great birthday gift.”
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the board of the Kennedy Center unlawfully added Trump’s name to the venue, which only Congress is permitted to do.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” wrote Judge Cooper, ordering within 14 days, the president’s name be removed from the facade and other areas, including digital signage and official materials.
Predictably, Trump lashed out at the ruling on Truth Social, claiming “the Radical Left would rather see [the center] DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of,” he wrote in part.
The Kennedy Center board voted to add Trump’s name to the building in December, resulting in an exodus of scheduled artists. In March, the board approved plans to close the center for extensive renovations.
