President Trump's bid to secure his legacy is taking on a new name — or, rather, his own.
This month, the president's quest to leave his mark on history transcended his policy priorities and political victories in favor of renaming things in his honor.
Trump affixed his name to two Washington institutions, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, despite one pending legal challenge and drawing another.
He also announced a new "Trump class" of battleships Monday with nuclear capabilities, the first of which, the USS Defiant, will be the "largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world's oceans," by Navy Secretary John Phelan's measure.
As a real estate mogul, Trump plastered his name on all his major projects. But as president, his namesake pursuit is being met with resistance.
The Kennedy Center's renaming was challenged late Monday night in a lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio member of the center's board, which voted to add Trump's name last week.
Trump officials contended that the board's decision to unveil The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts — or, to avoid the mouthful, the Trump-Kennedy Center — was made "unanimously."
But Beatty asserts that's untrue.
She said the board meeting, held at a Trump-supporting board member's home, came without notice that a name change would be considered, and those who might have opposed the update were barred from giving input.
The Democratic congresswoman further claimed that, when she tried to speak out as a remote participant, she was muted.
"This was a transparent effort to prevent any disagreement with the Board's actions and indicates that nothing could, or will, ever change Defendants' minds," her lawyers wrote in the complaint. "The proceedings were mere window dressing for a predetermined decision."
The performance space updated its signage to include Trump's name on Friday.
The heart of Beatty's challenge is that Congress named the center by statute, meaning Trump's name change is unlawful without an act of Congress.
Months after former President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination, the center — then called the National Cultural Center — was made into a "living memorial" to the late president. The designation came as the result of an act of Congress signed into law by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in January 1964.
Beatty asked a judge to find the renaming unlawful and order the dismantling of the new signage displaying Trump's name.
"Unless and until this Court intervenes, the effort to corrupt the Kennedy Center into a vanity project for Defendant Trump will continue to harm the institution," her lawyers wrote.
The Trump-Kennedy Center episode comes weeks after Trump stuck his name onto the headquarters for USIP despite ongoing litigation between the administration and institute itself after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effectively dismantled its operations. The building stands today as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
A federal judge ruled in May that Trump and DOGE used "brute force" to take over the building and purge the institute, moves she described as a "gross usurpation of power."
The Trump administration appealed, and a federal appeals court panel paused the lower court's ruling while it reviews the matter. Then, the appeal itself was put on an indefinite hold as the Supreme Court weighs Trump's firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter — a case with far-reaching implications for independent agencies.
George Foote, a lawyer representing former USIP leadership and staff, said in a statement after the renaming that the institute's new namesake "adds insult to injury." The only reason the government maintains control of the building is because of the appeals court's stay, he noted, emphasizing that the takeover was ruled illegal.
"The rightful owners will ultimately prevail and will restore the U.S. Institute of Peace and the building to their statutory purposes," Foote said at the time.
Other legal challenges are likely to emerge as Trump seeks to rebrand government entities after himself.
The president was sued earlier this month by the Center for Biological Diversity, which asked a judge to bar the president from replacing a "beautiful picture" of Glacier National Park with a "closeup of his own face" on a National Parks pass.
Legal experts have also warned lawsuits may be imminent over the so-called "Trump Gold Card" and "Trump Platinum Card," a pricy visa fast-track rolled out by the White House in September.
Trump's new battleships, on the other hand, appear to be on solid footing.
Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), wrote in a blog post Tuesday that the decision breaks several naming conventions — like naming ships after living people or the class after the lead ship — but said recent administrations of both political parties have "flaunted" the conventions to make political points.
Biden, for example, named aircraft carriers after former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.
Where Trump could run into trouble is with his namesake fleet's cost, as Congress holds the power of the purse. The 2026 reconciliation bill adds $29.2 billion for building more ships, CSIS noted. But if the administration strays outside of that, expect a legal fight.
And readers, one other note: This is our last edition of The Gavel for 2025, as we take a break from publishing until the new year. So, thanks for subscribing, and see you in 2026!
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