BIRTHDAY BUMMER

Trump Humiliated as Staff Ordered to Remove All Traces of Him

His plastered-on name didn’t even last six months.

All traces of President Donald Trump’s name must be scrubbed from the Kennedy Center by June 12—two days before his 80th birthday.

Lawyers for the historic performing arts center, which Trump slapped his name on late last year, informed employees in a Thursday memo that they “must immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center.’”

The memo also instructed that any changes to interior or exterior signage, including Trump’s name tacked on to the building’s facade, must be switched back to its original state by Friday, June 12, according to The New York Times.

The orders follow U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s ruling last week in favor of Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees who filed a lawsuit against the center’s name change and closure.

The federal judge, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled that the addition of Trump’s name to the center, of which he became the chairman in February 2025, was unlawful, and that only Congress has the power to change the institution’s name.

Reached for comment, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, Roma Daravi, told the Daily Beast in a statement: “We are complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership.”

Reached for comment, a White House spokesperson referred the Daily Beast to two of the president’s Truth Social posts from Friday and Saturday, where he unleashed absurdly lengthy screeds whining about Cooper’s ruling.

ON BENDED KNEE

Kennedy Center Goon Grovels Against Removing Trump's Name

Vic Verbalaitis

The center’s board members, packed with Trump sycophants such as fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, voted in December to officially change the name.

However, Beatty, a voting member of the board, said she was “censored” by the administration while trying to voice her concerns during the vote.

“What you may hear is that there was a unanimous vote to rename the Kennedy Center the Trump Center,” Beatty said at the time in a video shared on X. “To be clear, I was on that call, and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions, and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted. Each time I tried to speak, I was muted.”

“This center, the Kennedy Center, was created by the Congress,” she added. “I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people have a say.”

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Trump announced in March that the institution would shut down for two years for renovations, leaving a considerable number of its employees without a job. The decision came months after many performers dropped out of their scheduled shows, and performances that weren’t cancelled had poor ticket sales.

Cooper’s ruling came on May 29, the birthday of former President John F. Kennedy, the center’s original namesake. The performing arts center was created in his honor in 1964 following his assassination.

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Vic VerbalaitisNight Breaking News Reporter

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