WASHINGTON (AP) — On Thursday, Rep. Joyce Beatty filed an urgent appeal with a federal court to prevent the Kennedy Center from reinstating President Donald Trump’s name on the building.
The board of the Kennedy Center, which aligns with Trump, voted earlier this month to engrave the president’s name on the building’s facade. The inscription would read, “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund accumulated $100 million, an additional inscription would state “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also be renamed in Trump’s honor.
The Kennedy Center indicated it wouldn’t attempt to engrave Trump’s name before September 8 to allow time for legal proceedings.
Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex officio Kennedy Center board member, has been leading the charge against Trump’s efforts to memorialize himself at the Center. Her legal representatives, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, argued that the board’s decision represents “clear violations” of a previous court ruling.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The resolution passed by Trump’s supporters on the board claims the Kennedy Center “would be in financial ruin without President Trump’s unique stature as both an unparalleled fundraiser and world-class developer.”
In 1964, Congress designated the performing arts center as a living memorial to Kennedy, a year after his assassination. The law explicitly prohibits the board from converting the center into a memorial for anyone else or adding another person’s name to its exterior.
In May, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center’s previous addition of Trump’s name was illegal and ordered its removal. The center’s authorities complied in June but left scaffolding and a tarp over the area where Trump’s name had been.
Attorneys for the Kennedy Center stated this week that they would not dismantle the scaffolding, asserting it is crucial for “water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang.”
