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8 architecture and culture groups sue Trump and the Kennedy Center board

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8 architecture and culture groups sue Trump and the Kennedy Center board

A view of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in February. On Monday, a group of eight architecture and culture groups filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump and the arts complex’s board to halt a planned renovation.

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

A group of eight architecture and cultural organizations is suing President Trump and the board of the Kennedy Center over the planned renovations of the arts complex, which are set to begin in just over three months. The lawsuit seeks to have the White House and the Kennedy Center board comply with existing historic preservation laws and secure Congress’ approval before moving ahead with the renovations.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, the DC Preservation League, Docomomo US and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Collectively, these groups have over 1 million members.

In an email sent Monday to NPR, White House spokesperson Liz Huston wrote: “President Trump is committed to making the Trump-Kennedy Center the finest performing arts facility in the world. We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.” NPR also requested comment from the Kennedy Center, but did not receive a response.

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In the lawsuit, the groups wrote that the Kennedy Center has stood since 1971 “as a living memorial to a slain president, a national gathering place for the arts and a defining landmark within the monumental core of the Nation’s capital. Its Modernist design, grand public spaces and role as a premier cultural institution together form an irreplaceable legacy of history, architecture and civic purpose.”

They argue that under President Trump as the arts complex’s chairman, the president and his hand-selected board of trustees wish “to fundamentally alter this iconic property without complying with bedrock federal historic preservation and environmental laws, and without securing the necessary Congressional authorization.” They cite the demolition of the East Wing of the White House last October as an example of how they say Trump is reshaping the landscape of the nation’s capital, as well as Trump’s repeated assertion that he intends a “complete rebuilding” of the Kennedy Center.

Last Monday, the center’s board voted to close the arts complex for two years of renovations, beginning just after July 4 celebrations. Just before the vote, Trump held a press conference with the Kennedy Center board and other close allies, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and casino magnate Steve Wynn. In that press conference, Trump said that the vote was coming “a little late for the board, because we’ve already announced it.”

Architectural plans for the renovation have not been made public. Trump has frequently said that experts have been consulted on those plans; NPR has made repeated requests to learn more about the project, including about the bidding, financing and experts working on the renovations, but the Kennedy Center has declined to respond.

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Bill Maher is getting the Mark Twain Prize after all

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Bill Maher is getting the Mark Twain Prize after all

Satirist Bill Maher is this year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Maher will receive the award at the Kennedy Center on June 28th. The show will stream on Netflix at a later date.

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Bill Maher will be receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor after all.

There’s been some confusion about whether the comedian and longtime host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher would, indeed, be getting the top humor award. After The Atlantic cited anonymous sources saying he was, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “fake news.” But today the Kennedy Center made it official.

“For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy,” said Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations in a statement. “For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse – one politically incorrect joke at a time.”

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Is President Trump, chair of the Kennedy Center’s board, in on the joke?

Maher once visited Trump at the White House and he tends to be more conservative than many of his comedian peers but after their dinner Trump soured on Maher, calling him a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” on social media.

Maher’s acerbic wit has targeted both political parties and he’s been particularly hard on Trump recently, criticizing his decisions to wage a war with Iran and his personnel choices.

“Trump said, ‘when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.’ Um, who’s ‘we?,’” Maher said in a recent monologue.

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Past recipients of the Mark Twain Prize include Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, Eddie Murphy and Carol Burnett.

In a statement released through the Kennedy Center, Maher said, “It is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain.”

Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center on June 28. The show will stream on Netflix at a later date.

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What European Luxury Can Learn From American Fashion

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What European Luxury Can Learn From American Fashion
This week on The Debrief, BoF’s Diana Pearl explains why brands like Coach, Ralph Lauren and Tory Burch are outperforming many European luxury houses — and what their turnarounds reveal about pricing, product, retail and long-term brand building.
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Suit asks court to force Trump administration to use ‘The Kennedy Center’ name

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Suit asks court to force Trump administration to use ‘The Kennedy Center’ name

Workers react to the media after updating signage outside the Kennedy Center on Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

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Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio is asking a federal court in Washington, D.C., to force President Trump and the board and staff of the Kennedy Center to revert to calling the arts complex The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The motion, which Beatty filed on Wednesday, asks a federal circuit court judge to reverse the Trump administration and the center’s current board and staff’s decision to call the complex “The Trump-Kennedy Center.”

In the filing, Beatty’s attorneys wrote: “Can the Board of the Kennedy Center — in direct contradiction of the governing statutes — rename this sacred memorial to John F. Kennedy after President Donald J. Trump? The answer is, unequivocally, ‘no.’ By renaming the Center — in violation of the law — Defendants have breached the terms of the trust and their most basic fiduciary obligations as trustees. Shortly after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Congress designated the Kennedy Center as the ‘sole national memorial to the late’ President in the nation’s capital.”

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In a statement emailed to NPR Thursday, Roma Daravi, the vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, wrote: “We’re confident the court will uphold the board’s decision on the name change and the desperately needed renovations which will continue as scheduled.” NPR also reached out to the White House for comment, but did not receive a reply.

In December, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the complex would heretofore be called “The Trump-Kennedy Center.” Although the new moniker was never approved by Congress, the Center’s website and publicity materials were immediately updated to reflect the administration’s chosen name, and the same day as Leavitt’s announcement, Trump’s name went up on the signage of the complex’s exterior, over that of the slain President Kennedy.

Later that month, Rep. Beatty who serves as an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, sued Trump, members of the Kennedy Center board appointed by Trump, and some ex-officio members, arguing that the complex’s name had been legislated by Congress in 1964. Wednesday’s motion is part of that lawsuit.

In a press release sent to NPR on Wednesday, Rep. Beatty said: “Donald Trump’s attempt to rename the Kennedy Center after himself is not just an act of ego. It is an attempt to subvert our Constitution and the rule of law. Congress established the Kennedy Center by law, and only Congress can change its name.”

For many patrons, artists and benefactors of the Kennedy Center, the name change was the last straw in politicizing the performing arts hub. Following the White House announcement of the new name, many prominent artists withdrew planned performances there, including the composer Philip Glass (a Kennedy Center Honors award recipient, who received his prize during the first Trump administration), the famed Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz and the 18-time Grammy-winning banjo master Béla Fleck.

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The Washington National Opera (WNO), which had been in residence at the Kennedy Center since 1971, also severed its ties in January after ticket sales dropped precipitously. Earlier this month, WNO artistic director Francesca Zambello told NPR, “We did try as best as we could to encourage [the patrons] that we are a bipartisan organization, but people really voted with their feet and with their pocketbooks. And so we realized that there was really no choice for us.”

On Monday, a coalition of eight architecture and cultural groups also sued Trump and the Kennedy Center board in federal court over the complex’s scheduled closing in July for unspecified renovations. Their suit seeks to have the White House and board members comply with existing historic preservation laws, and to secure Congressional approval before moving ahead with the renovation plans.

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