Democrats and their left-wing legal groups have wailed about President Donald Trump having his name added to the Kennedy Center even as he and the board have tried to improve the crumbling structure. Now, they can blame themselves for its demise – but of course, they won’t.
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Kennedy Center from placing Trump’s name on either its building or surrounding grounds, rejecting the board’s latest effort to recognize the president without first obtaining approval from Congress. That, in turn, led to drastic action by the board.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, ruled that the Kennedy Center’s board could not add an inscription to the building’s facade crediting Trump with restoring and renovating the performing arts complex. Cooper also prohibited the board from renaming the surrounding property “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
The decision marked the second time Cooper has intervened in an effort to add Trump’s name to the institution formally known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Cooper concluded that federal law gives Congress — rather than the Kennedy Center board — authority over memorials and changes involving the institution.
Initially named by an act of Congress the National Cultural Center in 1958, it was renamed in honor of Kennedy following his assassination in 1963. “Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper claimed.
The latest dispute emerged after the Kennedy Center board voted 20-3 on Aug. 13 to approve new language for the building’s facade reading: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board also voted to designate the grounds surrounding the complex as the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
Those proposals followed an earlier legal battle over the center’s name. The board had previously voted to rename the institution the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” commonly referred to as the Trump Kennedy Center. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, sued to block the change.
In May, Cooper ruled that the board lacked authority to rename the congressionally established memorial without congressional approval. Trump’s name, which had been installed on the building’s front portico, was subsequently removed in June while the administration appealed the ruling.
The Kennedy Center then pursued the alternative plan approved in August, arguing that the proposed inscription was not technically a renaming of the institution but recognition of Trump’s role in overseeing its renovation. Justice Department attorneys defending the plan argued that the new language complied with Cooper’s earlier ruling because it preserved the Kennedy Center’s official name.
The administration also argued that Trump’s continued involvement was important to completing major repairs at the aging facility and maintaining financial support for the project. Cooper rejected that distinction Tuesday, finding that the board could not accomplish indirectly what his earlier order prevented it from doing directly.
His ruling also covered the proposed Trump Plaza designation, concluding that the federal statute governing the Kennedy Center prevents the board from installing new memorials on the property without congressional authorization. The naming dispute comes as the Kennedy Center prepares for a major renovation. Congress has provided approximately $257 million for repairs to the performing arts complex, which officials say faces significant structural and maintenance problems.
Hours after Cooper issued his ruling, the Kennedy Center board voted to close most of the facility for renovations. Trump later announced that the shutdown would begin immediately. Trump has argued that his involvement is necessary to restore the building and has criticized Cooper’s rulings preventing his name from being displayed.
The president serves as chairman of the Kennedy Center board after replacing numerous trustees following his return to the White House. His administration has also made substantial changes to the center’s leadership and programming.
