Cooper ordered center to give 30 days’ notice on changes
Thousands of demonstrators packed streets in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington on Friday evening, locking down traffic as they marched in the “Hands Around the Kennedy Center” protest organized by Hands Off the Arts. Scaffolding and tarpaulins concealed the marble facade of the building as protesters waved signs, some wore costumes and the crowd booed when Trump was mentioned during the program.
The Kennedy Center board, aligned with the president, voted Tuesday to close the center indefinitely for repairs, hours after US District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the board’s plans to return Trump’s name to the building. On Thursday, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes, including demolition. The board had previously had Trump’s name placed on the center late last year, before a court ruled the addition was illegal and ordered it removed.
The Kennedy Center, one of the most iconic buildings on the Potomac River waterfront, has been a focus of Trump’s remake of Washington since 2025, when he began installing favorites on its governing board. The board had subsequently moved to return Trump’s name to the building before Cooper’s Tuesday ruling.
Friday’s protests came after a Wednesday photograph of Trump examining a depiction of the Kennedy Center apparently being demolished drew widespread attention. The image, captured by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski, showed the president through the windows of Air Force One holding a placard with visible text in red declaring “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS…”; the rest of the word was obscured by the plane’s window frame.
Chris Raleigh, co-founder of Hands Off the Arts, said in an interview that he hoped the event would show that people are willing to fight to halt Trump’s plans for the building. Raleigh added that he, like others, is concerned Trump could tear down the building without notifying the court. “Look at the East Wing,” Raleigh said. “We got up one morning and there was a giant hole there.”
Among the demonstrators were people in inflatable animal costumes, a man in a golden Trump mask with a crown and a sign that read “Restore my name in gold you sycophants” and another man who wore a blue hat that said “Make America intelligent again.” Baby Trump balloons danced in the air against the setting sun. Protesters beat drums, chanted “hands off!” and waved signs including “Keep your tiny hands off our Kennedy Center,” “You’re no Jack Kennedy,” “Donny you are no JFK!,” “Kennedy Center 4 ever,” “Our center not DJT’s,” “Hands off the arts” and “Wicked starring DJT.”
Friday’s event followed a week in which federal courts in Washington were flooded with competing filings as the administration continued its push for the president’s projects. The administration has taken substantive steps toward beginning work on projects that remain in litigation, including a planned triumphal arch, the takeover of East Potomac Golf Links and the takeover of the US Institute of Peace.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he was willing to save the center, which he said was losing money. He did not address a question about demolishing it. “We have a lot of people working very hard on it to save it,” Trump said. “I can save it easily, but why should we be doing that and then raise money for the rest of our lives to keep it afloat? Because that’s what you have to do, if we get no recognition. I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center.”