Trump’s Name Removed From Kennedy Center After Federal Judge Rules Rebranding Unlawful

Workers removed President Trump’s name from the white marble facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts early Saturday, drawing cheers from a crowd of onlookers gathered outside the iconic Washington venue. The operation followed a federal judge’s ruling that the center’s rebranding was unlawful.The letters came down just after 3 a.m., hours after a midnight deadline set by Judge Christopher R. Cooper of Federal District Court in Washington. The Kennedy Center had sought a 12-hour extension, citing a cluster of summer storms that delayed preparations. Workers spent much of Friday erecting towering scaffolding before hanging heavy white tarps to obscure the removal from view. Tens of thousands of people watched a YouTube feed from MSNOW. Judge Cooper had ruled late last month that the board did not have the power to unilaterally rename the institution. That power, he wrote, lies only with Congress, citing legislation enacted in 1964 that dedicated the center to President Kennedy.“The ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ label adds an entirely new name to the center’s formal title,” Judge Cooper wrote, “and relegates President Kennedy’s name to second place.”Throughout Friday, lawyers for Mr. Trump and the center sought legal intervention to keep his name on the marble while pursuing an appeal. Both the district court and a federal appeals court denied their requests for an immediate stay, clearing the way for the removal to proceed.The Kennedy Center’s Trump-allied board had voted nearly six months ago to add the president’s name to the building — a move that triggered widespread backlash. Democratic legislators condemned it as an act of “narcissism;” a series of artists canceled engagements at the center; and Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio filed a lawsuit calling the renaming a “flagrant violation of the rule of law.” Ms. Beatty was present on Saturday morning as the letters came down.Trump-allied officials at the Kennedy Center vowed to fight the ruling, saying they were confident the courts would uphold the “board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.” The appeal filing warned that removing the name would threaten fundraising, claiming many major donors “were only willing to [give] with the name ‘Trump’ on the building.”Meanwhile, the Washington National Opera on Thursday filed suit against the Kennedy Center for $17 million in withheld donations after their 15-year affiliation ended bitterly. WNO alleges the Center used the opera’s endowment to collateralize its own credit line. Following WNO’s withdrawal, the Center locked out staff and revoked system access.“These funds represent years of gifts from loyal supporters who gave specifically to advance WNO’s mission, its performances, its artists, and its education and community programs,” the company said in a statement. “WNO has a fiduciary responsibility to its donors to ensure their contributions are honored and used as intended to support the work of WNO’s artists and its programs.”

Trump’s Name Removed From Kennedy Center After Federal Judge Rules Rebranding Unlawful

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