A US federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s attempt to rename the John F Kennedy Center after himself violated federal law, reaffirming that only Congress can alter the institution’s name.

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s renaming of the John F Kennedy Memorial Centre for the Performing Arts after himself is illegal and temporarily barred the president from shuttering the Washington, DC cultural institution for renovations.

Trump’s effort to rename the iconic Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center came after the president used his authority to purge the institution’s board and appoint new trustees. In an unprecedented move, the trustees then voted to make Trump the centre’s board chair. Last December, the board voted unanimously to rename the institution – a move that violated federal law.

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Centre board, sued over the name change, which outraged many Americans and, along with Trump’s addition of his name to the US Institute of Peace, sparked legislation aimed at banning the naming or renaming of federal assets after sitting presidents.

“May the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts be renamed absent Congressional authorisation? The answer, plain from the face of the statute, is no,” US District Judge Christopher Cooper wrote in his ruling on Beatty’s suit. “Nor can any other individual be memorialised on the front portico of the building.”

Originally called the National Cultural Centre, the........

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