The Kennedy Center’s Donald Trump-dominated board is trying to illegally flout court orders that block the president from sticking his name on the building, according to the legal team fighting to keep his hands off the venue. The Department of Justice and lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is leading the legal battle, returned to court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday after the board of trustees voted to install Trump’s name on the white marble facade — again — despite an order from a federal judge.
The government has argued that the venue will rapidly deteriorate without the support of the president — the “sole hope” for its financial and structural survival — and could be demolished in the future if the court stops the Kennedy Center’s closure, renovation and re-branding plan. What a shame should something happen to it,’” lawyers for the congresswoman wrote Wednesday night. And it must stop.” Outside the courthouse on Thursday, Beatty’s lawyer Nathaniel Zelinsky accused the Trump administration of “courting a constitutional crisis for one man’s vanity.” Last year, the Trump-dominated board voted to add his own name to the venue by renaming it “The Donald J.
Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” But his name was removed from the building this summer after District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that Congress made it “crystal clear” that the memorial is only to be named after the assassinated former president, “and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial” based on Trump’s “unilateral say-so.” Scaffolding and a massive white tarp that were erected to strip the metal name plates from the facade are still standing outside the building. Only “The John F.” and part of the letter “K” are currently visible.
Earlier this month, the board voted once again to put the president’s name on the building. The words “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” would appear under Kennedy’s name, and the phrase “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund” would also be added once an endowment — also in Trump’s name — reaches $100 million.
Together, those changes could mean that the building will be named: “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump endowed by The Trump Kennedy Center Fund.” The board also voted to name the places where the building stands after Trump.
That space will be called “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Beatty filed an emergency motion asking Cooper to block the board’s vote, which her legal team called a “breathtaking act of defiance” of the court’s order. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick came to Trump’s defense outside the courthouse on Thursday, heaping praise on the president and labeling him “the greatest builder in the world.” He also defended the Justice Department’s argument that the building could be demolished unless Trump — as “construction manager” — is allowed to raise money for the multi-million dollar, two-year renovation project, for which Lutnick says the president should be recognized.
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