Kennedy Center Board Votes to Put Trump’s Name Back on Building
The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has voted to place President Donald Trump’s name back on the Washington cultural institution, setting up another potential legal clash only weeks after workers removed his name under a federal court order.
The board voted on Thursday, August 13, to change the building’s facade so that it would read: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump,” according to Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board. The physical site would also be renamed President Donald J. Trump Plaza.
A second source familiar with the meeting confirmed the decision to Reuters. The Kennedy Center had not issued a substantive public response when Reuters published its report.
The decision comes after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center could not be formally renamed without an act of Congress. Trump’s name, which had previously been added to the building, was removed in June following that ruling. A federal appeals court later declined to allow the name to remain while the administration continued its legal challenge.
The latest resolution appears to take a different approach. Instead of formally replacing the Kennedy Center’s existing name, the proposed inscription would credit Trump with its restoration and renovation.
Whether that distinction is sufficient to comply with the earlier court ruling has not yet been determined.
The board also voted to proceed with a two-year closure of the main Kennedy Center building for renovations, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. Some outdoor programming could continue at the Reach, a newer section of the complex.
