There are few things I'm looking forward to more this summer than watching Trump's name get torn off the Kennedy Center. It's going to be Epic.
What We’re Covering Today
Kennedy Center: A federal judge in Washington ruled on Friday that President Trump’s name was illegally added to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, writing that the law establishing the center made “crystal clear” that only Congress could change it. Mr. Trump wrote on social media that the judge, who also temporarily blocked the center from closing for renovations, should be “ashamed of himself.” Read more ›
Kennedy Center
In a social media post on Friday, President Trump railed against a federal judge’s order that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove the president’s name from its marble facade. He wrote that the judge, who also temporarily blocked the center from closing for renovations, should be “ashamed of himself.”
“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,” he wrote of the performing arts center.
Trump took over the performing arts center at the start of his second term, but this order seems to have prompted him to rethink his role. “I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” he wrote in the post.
Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague
Julia Jacobs reported from New York, and Zach Montague from Washington.
Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague
Julia Jacobs reported from New York, and Zach Montague from Washington.
The Kennedy Center must remove Trump’s name from the building, a judge orders.
A federal judge ordered on Friday that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove President Trump’s name from the building’s facade and all official branding and temporarily blocked the institution from shuttering this summer for renovations.
Mr. Trump railed against the judge’s ruling in an incensed social media post, suggesting that he was considering casting the Kennedy Center aside as one of his personal projects. The president wrote that unless he was free to decide the center’s trajectory, he had “no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey.”
“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,” he wrote.
Judge Christopher R. Cooper, of the Federal District Court in Washington, determined that the board’s decision to add Mr. Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center violated a law passed by Congress in 1964 that made “crystal clear” the institution was to be named for former President John F. Kennedy.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote in a 94-page opinion. He ordered that the 18 letters added to the center’s front portico be removed within two weeks.
The center’s board of trustees, a vast majority of whom are allies of Mr. Trump, voted in December to add the president’s name to the performing arts center. Less than a day later, new lettering was added to the building’s marble facade, which now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the center, said that it would appeal the ruling, signing her statement as the “Trump Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations.”
“We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center,” she said.
The judge’s order came in response to a lawsuit by Representative Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, who is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board. She objected to both the renaming and the plans to close the institution, which her lawyers argued was in fact a decision “designed to hide their embarrassment about declining ticket sales.”
Judge Cooper found that the board had been “derelict” in considering the possible consequences to programming when shuttering the center, as well as its legal responsibility to maintain the center as a memorial to the slain president. His order did not make any specific directives for reinstating programming as the board reassesses its renovation plans.
Ms. Beatty said in a statement celebrating the ruling that “the Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump.”
In a parallel ruling in a separate lawsuit on Friday, Judge Cooper, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, stopped short of blocking the center from beginning renovations after preservationist groups said they had been undertaken without the required permits.
While that coalition of groups had argued that the administration appeared intent on remaking the center in Mr. Trump’s image, and potentially demolishing the structure entirely, Judge Cooper found that possibility too remote for now. But he warned that he would re-evaluate if the facts on the ground changed, saying there was a “paucity of concrete details as to the project’s scope.”
“If the work is, say, more transformative than present testimony suggests or requires permits that the center has yet to acknowledge or secure, the court’s legal analysis might look substantially different,” the judge wrote.
After shunning the Kennedy Center in his first term, Mr. Trump has staged a wholesale takeover of the institution in his second. He stocked the center’s board with loyalists, who installed him as chairman, ushering in a period of upheaval as many artists boycotted the increasingly politicized institution.
In Mr. Trump’s social media post on Friday, he indicated that he was now interested in giving up responsibility for the Kennedy Center, writing that he had instructed the Commerce Department to “transfer this failing Institution” to Congress. It was not immediately clear what he meant; the programming is run through a nonprofit, but Congress allots federal funds to maintain the building.
Mr. Trump announced in February that the center would be closing in July, calling the building “dilapidated” and in desperate need of renovations. Kennedy Center officials have asserted that it would have been irresponsible to keep the building open while addressing its maintenance needs, which they say includes widespread water damage and corrosion, outdated stage equipment and necessary security updates.
The Kennedy Center’s executive director, Matt Floca, defended the decision to shutter the building during testimony in court in the case brought by the preservation groups. Mr. Floca, a facilities professional whom Mr. Trump promoted in March, testified that there were “very clear efficiencies” — including financial — that came with deciding to temporarily close the institution.
But he acknowledged that there had been no studies comparing the cost of construction on a shuttered building with one that remained open.
“There is no need to,” Mr. Floca testified.
The board approved the plan in March, but the judge found that it had not done its due diligence in assessing the practical and legal questions surrounding such a major decision. He noted that although Mr. Trump had said in a social media post that there had been a one-year review of the issue involving contractors and “musical experts,” there was no evidence that such a review had taken place.
“None of the board members had sufficient information in advance of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to close the center,” the judge wrote.
Judge Cooper noted that his decision did not prevent the center’s board from deciding to close the institution for renovations in the future, but he urged it to prepare itself with “sufficient information to make a considered, independent decision, taking account of its obligation to both maintain and operate” the arts venue and “its solemn duty to memorialize a fallen president.”
The judge ordered the sides to file an update by June 5, proposing next steps for how to proceed.
In anticipation of the Kennedy Center’s closure, its performance calendar has largely been stripped bare. Several Broadway productions that were set for runs at the center were forced to cancel. The National Symphony Orchestra, which is attached to the center, has had to search for other local venues for their performances. Officials also began laying off staff members, saying that only a bare-bones work force would be retained during the closure.
In her statement, Ms. Daravi, the Kennedy Center spokeswoman, indicated that the center would push forward with what she described as an “urgent and significant restoration.”
“With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress,” she said, “the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”
Trump says judge who ruled against him on Kennedy Center ‘should be brought up on charges’
Trump accused the judge of ruling against him ‘because his wife probably told him to do so’ and went on to accuse him of having a conflict of interest because of his wife's politics
Graig Graziosi in Washington, D.C.President Donald Trump is calling for a federal judge who ruled against his Kennedy Center renaming and renovation plans to face charges.
On Saturday, Trump issued a more than 700-word screed on Truth Social, lamenting a ruling the previous day by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper temporarily blocking his planned renovations at the Kennedy Center and demanding that his name be removed from the structure.
“The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so,” Cooper ruled. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Trump accused Cooper of ruling against him "because his wife probably told him to do so" and went on to accuse him of having a conflict of interest because of his wife's politics.
“Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress, who doesn’t use the 'Cooper' name because they, as a couple, don’t want people to know that she has a Conflict of Interest with an important Judge, is a Radical Left Democrat, who worked as a Federal Prosecutor and Counselor to Obama Attorney General, Eric Holder,” Trump said.
He then said the alleged conflict of interest should result in charges being brought against Cooper.
“Amy is totally wired into the Left System, from her husband down, and it is impossible for me to be treated fairly. He has a total Conflict of Interest, and should be brought up on charges for not revealing these facts,” Trump wrote. “That is why The Kennedy Center will soon be closed, probably never to open again.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump offered an exaggerated view of the Kennedy Center, painting it as a dilapidated hovel that is "in a potential state of collapse, rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested."
“The marble is in terrible shape, the pipes are gone, the air conditioning and heating systems are 65 years old, and no longer functioning. It was all being torn out to be replaced by brand new Carrier Equipment, at the highest standard,” Trump said of his plans.
He continued, saying the renovation will be stalled now “because a Judge, whose wife is an anti Trump Hater, and he is too, decided, unprecedentedly, to not allow a desperately needed Building Renovation to go forward.”
“On top of that, he said, 'Rip his name off the Building, he’s got 20 days to do so,' even though a large Board of some of the most distinguished people in the Country voted unanimously to put the name up. I didn’t do it, the Board did because they thought it would be good for this dying Institution,” Trump said.
The Board he is referring to is the new Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, which he appointed after firing the previous board. His hand-picked board — which includes White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scovino, Vice President JD Vance's wife, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's wife, and Trump himself — were the ones who chose to add his name to the building.
Since the renaming, more than a dozen major acts have canceled their performances at the Kennedy Center in protest.
The Kennedy Center said it planned to appeal the judge's ruling on Friday.
“We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration – a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravai said, according to NPR.
“With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy,” the statement said.
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