The Kennedy Center Is Trump’s Hostage

The president berated a congresswoman during a board meeting, then posted that he would abandon the Kennedy Center if his name isn’t added to it.

Al Drago / The Washington Post / Getty September 15, 2026, 8:54 PM ET Share Save Donald Trump has given the federal judiciary an ultimatum: Let him put his name on the Kennedy Center, or he won’t save it.

That threat came after a federal judge, Christopher Cooper, today blocked yet another effort to add the president’s name to the building. Moments later, Trump virtually joined a Kennedy Center board meeting, at which he slammed Cooper’s decision and lashed out at Representative Joyce Beatty—the ex officio board member challenging his overhaul of the institution in court—according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal proceedings.