Topline
President Donald Trump’s name was removed from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, according to a filing from a Kennedy Center official, who informed a judge of the removal.
Key Facts
A filing from Kennedy Center executive director Chris Matthew Flocka said the organization “removed all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any other individual besides President Kennedy.”
Scaffolding and tarp obscured the view of the building’s facade Saturday, meaning the removal of Trump’s name will likely not be visible to viewers until the deconstruction is complete.
The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, many of whom are Trump allies, unsuccessfully appealed the court order that demanded the president’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center’s facade.
Federal Judge Christopher Cooper set a Friday deadline for the removal, though Trump’s name appeared to still be on the building early Saturday morning before the tarp was placed.
Key Background
Trump added his name to the Kennedy Center in December, changing the signage to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” and targeting the institution’s alleged “woke” programming. The center’s board, which was installed early last year with Trump allies including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Fox News host Laura Ingraham, unanimously approved the name change. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit against the name change and won the challenge in late May, when Cooper ruled the change could not be done without congressional approval. The ruling also temporarily blocked renovations scheduled for the building. Cooper gave a two-week deadline for the name change to take place and said in a filing the Kennedy Center’s “organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.”
Further Reading
Kennedy Center Board Fights Court Order To Remove Trump’s Name (Forbes)
Judge Blocks Kennedy Center Bid To Keep Trump’s Name — As Construction Crews Prepare To Take It Down (Forbes)