A federal court shot down President Donald Trump’s argument that the Kennedy Center will lose money if his name isn’t reinstated to the performing arts center.
A three judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the request by Trump and his legal team to overturn a lower court’s ruling that his name be scrubbed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ruling that Trump’s team has “failed to show how they will be irreparably injured absent a stay. “
Trump’s Kennedy Center team had told the appeals court that removal of the current president’s name “‘threatens to impede’” fundraising and will “‘contribute to financial decline of the Center.’”
The appeals court said that argument had no backing, writing in an order that the president’s team “offer only the conclusory assertions” by the Kennedy Center’s Trump backed executive director “in a factually unsupported declaration.” Judges cited the lower courts ruling that “‘there is no proof that current or future donations hinge on President Trump’s name being on the building.’”
Trump’s team also tried to persuade the court that the center would not be able to fundraise and would have to return money if the 47th president’s name isn’t returned to the center. The appeals court also waved off that contention, saying Trump’s team was just bringing up that assertion and hadn’t brought the argument to the lower court’s attention, “and they have given no explanation for failing to do so.” The appeals court wrote “such a post hoc argument cannot demonstrate an abuse of discretion by the district court.” Trump’s team “have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending appeal,” the court said.
The denial of Trump’s request to stop the name removal means that while the appeal to overturn the lower court’s removal decision is ongoing the current president’s name won’t go back on the building. Trump could still win the appeal down the road and have his name reinstated on the center.
