A federal judge in Washington, DC, has ordered Donald Trump’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center.
Per CNN, Judge Casey Cooper concluded that the law establishing the Kennedy Center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President [John F.] Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.”
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Judge Cooper added.
The Kennedy Center has 14 days to remove all signage bearing Trump’s name and scrub references from its website.
Last December, the Kennedy Center’s Board, which consists of members handpicked by the president, unanimously voted to rename the Washington, DC, arts center as “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” The renaming was the culmination of Trump’s takeover of the venue, which has included the firing of board members, the cancellation of programming deemed too “woke,” a subsequent artist boycott, and the announcement of renovations that would close the Kennedy Center for two years.
On that note, Judge Cooper also temporarily blocked the Kennedy Center from moving forward with its planned closure this summer, arguing that the Board’s decision was the result of an “ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision.”
Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi said the Board will appeal the ruling, saying in a statement, “We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”
