US District Judge Christopher Cooper on August 28 questioned why the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC was hastily restoring President Donald Trump's name to the building, just months after he ordered its removal.
At the hearing, Judge Cooper asked Trump administration lawyer Bradley Mayers: “What is magical about September 8?” Mayers explained that the date was tied to a vote by the center's board of trustees, composed of members chosen by Trump, held earlier this month. However, Judge Cooper responded: “What does that have to do with the intent of Congress in the statutes? That's what I'm looking at.”
The legal case centers on Trump's efforts to carve his name onto the Kennedy Center building, one of many examples of the president's desire to reshape the nation's capital. Beyond the performing arts center, Trump has demolished the White House East Wing and wants to replace it with a massive ballroom. He has also promoted plans to build a grand triumphal arch at a traffic circle near Arlington National Cemetery.
Earlier, in May, Judge Cooper ruled that adding Trump's name to the building was illegal, stating that only Congress has the authority to rename the structure. He also rejected a plan to close the center for two years, which the board described as necessary for maintenance, but critics viewed as retaliation for the backlash over the renaming. However, earlier this month, the Trump-dominated board pushed forward with restoring his name, adding the inscription “Restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” and proposed renaming the plaza in front of the center after Trump.
On August 26, administration officials threatened to tear down the Kennedy Center if renovations were not undertaken, warning the structure could become “rotten” without board intervention. However, at the August 28 hearing, Judge Cooper rejected the notion that court orders were blocking repairs: “Nobody is preventing the center from making necessary repairs. The suggestion that continuing court intervention is blocking repairs is unfair.”
The lawsuit against the changes at the Kennedy Center was brought by Representative Joyce Beatty, a board member and Ohio congresswoman. Beatty's lawyers argued that the board's recent actions were a “public defiance” of the court. The Kennedy Center was named by Congress as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, who helped raise funds to establish the institution. He was assassinated in 1963. Under the law, no other national memorial to Kennedy is permitted in Washington DC.
