Judge blocks Kennedy Center board from putting Trump’s name on building

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center’s board from inscribing President Donald Trump’s name in the center’s main building to commemorate the renovation or naming the campus after him.

Judge Christopher Cooper’s order comes after the Kennedy Center’s board of directors, which the president chairs, renewed its push for Trump’s name to appear on the center’s official signage.

In May, Mr. Cooper ordered that the board remove Mr. Trump’s name from the center’s official name and facade, which it added in December, saying the action violated the law.

In a new order Tuesday, Cooper said he agreed that inscribing Trump’s name or renaming the property would violate the terms of a permanent injunction ordered in May to remove the president’s name from the center’s official name.

“Simply put, defendants cannot place a memorial to President Trump, any other person, or any other person at the Kennedy Center without Congressional approval,” Cooper wrote in his order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

“The board’s resolution contradicts federal court orders and statutes enacted by Congress,” Cooper wrote.

“President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage until he can engrave his name on this hallowed monument,” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio member of the center’s board of directors, which sought the order, said in a statement.

“The court just rejected this proposal for the second time,” Beatty said. “This illegal behavior is as breathtaking as it is wrong and must stop.”

The Justice Department defended the commission’s actions but did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Cooper’s ruling or whether it would appeal the decision.

In an Aug. 13 resolution, the center’s board of directors said it intended to “recognize and honor President Trump’s unprecedented contributions to the center’s survival and future viability.”

The board announced that the center’s building would be inscribed with Trump’s name and the words “John F. Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center,” with the words “Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump” written below.

The board also announced that the center’s physical site will be named “Donald J. Trump Presidential Plaza.”

Both measures were originally scheduled to be completed by Sept. 8, but the board later extended the deadline to Oct. 8.

The Justice Department defended the board’s actions, arguing with Cooper that if he blocked the move, donors would stop giving to the center and the facility, which is in much need of renovation, would be underfunded.

Cooper said in Tuesday’s order that the Justice Department has “no evidence that current or future donations are dependent on President Trump’s presence in the building” and “no valid evidence that removing President Trump’s name would preclude the center from fulfilling its artistic mission.”

“Four months ago, this court declared that Congress had named the John F. Kennedy Center.
“For performing arts just for President John F. Kennedy,” Cooper said.

“The reason we reached this conclusion is simple: the federal law that established the Kennedy Center did not allow for any other outcome,” Cooper wrote. “In 1983, Congress amended the Act to ensure that “no additional monuments or plaques in the nature of monuments shall be designated or erected in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

“Yet the drama at the Kennedy Center continues,” the judge added, referring to the board’s resolution.

Beatty’s lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said in a joint statement: “The court has told President Trump the same thing twice: You are not above the law. Once again, legal common sense has trumped President Trump’s vanity.”