Construction crews began removing President Donald Trump's name from the exterior of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington early Saturday morning, completing the work in the overnight hours after a series of legal efforts to halt the removal failed. Workers erected scaffolding Friday around the section of the building bearing Trump's name, but a thunderstorm delayed operations, prompting the Kennedy Center to ask a judge to extend the court-ordered Friday deadline to noon Saturday. Workers ultimately began the removal shortly after midnight, covering the scaffolding with tarps before taking down the letters, and departed the site around 3:30 a.m.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had rejected a last-minute request Friday afternoon from the Kennedy Center's board to pause compliance with his removal order. The center then filed an emergency appeal with a federal appeals court in Washington seeking a stay, but that court rejected the appeal Friday evening, shortly before the original deadline. Justice Department lawyers representing Trump and the Kennedy Center's board had filed the appeal, arguing for more time.

Cooper issued his underlying ruling last month, finding that Trump's name had been illegally added to the building. In a 94-page opinion, he wrote that Congress established the Kennedy Center's name and that only Congress has the authority to change it. His order gave the institution two weeks to remove all references to a 'Trump Kennedy Center' from its building, branding, website, and other materials, and also temporarily blocked a planned two-year closure of the facility for a $257 million renovation.

The legal challenge was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio who serves as an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center's board. Beatty was present on the plaza outside the building Friday evening, where dozens of onlookers gathered to watch the scaffolding go up, chanting 'take it down.' Earlier in the week, the Kennedy Center had already removed Trump's name from its website and email communications in partial compliance with the order.

The dispute stems from actions Trump took early in his second term, when he ousted the center's previous leadership and installed a new board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was added to the building shortly thereafter. The removal of his name marks a significant legal setback for the administration's efforts to reshape the federally chartered performing arts institution, and the broader question of executive authority over the Kennedy Center's governance and operations is likely to continue in the courts.