// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Trump says Kennedy Center to close as court rules his name must stay off building
Watch: President Trump's name added to facade of Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center board has voted to close the performing arts centre for two years, just as a US judge blocked it from adding President Donald Trump's name back to the building.
In May, the same judge ordered the removal of Trump's name and blocked its temporary closure for proposed renovations.
The board, which is chaired by Trump and includes his cabinet members and allies, approved a resolution in August to add the inscription, "Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump" to the venue.
Trump announced the addition of his name to the institution, among other rebranding measures across the nation's capital, last year.
The judge's written order came less than an hour before the centre's board voted on the closure.
This was the third time it has approved closing the centre since February, amid legal challenges to Trump's work to take greater control of the institution, but there is a chance the centre's doors could stay open despite Tuesday's vote.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the board voted "almost unanimously" to close the venue "for safety reasons".
While the closing "will take place immediately", Trump said renovations cannot begin until the court "rules on the Board's approved name" and vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court if it is a "negative" ruling.
He added that the US Department of Justice would ask for an expedited appeal and that he had raised $17m for the centre to "keep it afloat".