WASHINGTON — A federal judge told the Kennedy Center that it couldn’t simply rename the national performing arts institution for Donald Trump. So, the board has come up with Plan B: Don’t rename it. Put Trump’s name underneath it.
The Kennedy Center’s Trump-aligned board voted Thursday to add a new inscription to the building declaring it was “Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump,” while leaving the John F. Kennedy Center name intact. The board also approved naming the grounds the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
It’s the latest move in a wonderfully Washington-style fight involving Trump, Congress, a federal judge, hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations — and apparently the precise legal difference between renaming a building and putting another president’s name directly underneath its name.
Lawyers, start your engines.
This fight goes back to the board’s earlier decision to add Trump’s name alongside Kennedy’s. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, blocked that effort in May, ruling that the Kennedy Center is a congressionally designated memorial to President John F. Kennedy and that its board does not have the authority to simply give it a new name.
The key sentence in Cooper’s ruling was refreshingly uncomplicated: “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Trump’s name was subsequently removed from the building, and the Kennedy Center appealed.
Thursday’s vote appears designed to thread that particular legal needle. Rather than changing the institution’s official name, the board wants the facade to identify the building as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and then separately credit Trump for restoring and renovating it.
The inscription wasn’t the only Trump-related change approved Thursday. The board also voted to name the area surrounding the building President Donald J. Trump Plaza. And the board approved another controversial piece of Trump’s vision for the institution, shutting the main Kennedy Center building for approximately two years while it undergoes extensive renovations.
The main building will close, while the newer REACH complex is expected to remain available for limited programming. The renovation project has been another source of litigation. Trump has argued that the building is badly deteriorated and that a complete closure allows construction crews to do the job faster and more thoroughly than attempting major renovations around ongoing performances.
Earlier this year, Trump described the center as being in “tremendous disrepair” and argued that temporarily closing it would allow the administration to transform it into “the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.”
The administration has also pointed to substantial federal funding secured for the project. Trump said last year that Congress had provided approximately $257 million for Kennedy Center renovations. The board was reportedly presented with three approaches to the construction, including partial and phased closures, before choosing the roughly two-year shutdown.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio Kennedy Center board member who successfully challenged the previous actions, immediately accused Trump’s allies of trying to do an end run around Cooper’s ruling.
“This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling,” Beatty said, arguing that the move “flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed.” She vowed to “continue to fight for this treasured national monument.” And another court battle appears quite possible.
The Kennedy Center is already appealing the earlier ruling, and Cooper has retained oversight of issues surrounding the renovation and closure. The center has been asked to provide the court with additional information about its construction plans, finances and ability to fulfill its congressionally mandated mission during the shutdown.
So Thursday’s vote isn’t necessarily the final word. It’s more like the opening curtain on Act Two.
MY QUICK TAKE:
You have to admit, this may be the most Donald Trump solution to a legal problem imaginable.
You can dislike it. You can sue over it. You can call it an attempted circumvention of the judge’s order — which is exactly what Joyce Beatty is doing.
But you cannot say they didn’t read the fine print.
There is also a serious question buried beneath all the political theater: The Kennedy Center really does require major maintenance, and Trump has made revitalizing the institution one of his personal projects. Congress has put serious money behind the renovations.
The fight now is over who controls that transformation — and how much credit Trump gets to carve into the marble when it’s finished.
And anyone who has watched Donald Trump for the last forty years probably knows the answer to the second question.
He’s not looking for a tasteful little plaque next to the service entrance.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- New York Post — Kennedy Center board creates ‘Trump Plaza’ and plans to add prez’s name back to building
- Reuters — Kennedy Center board votes to inscribe Trump’s name on building
- Associated Press — Kennedy Center votes to restore Trump’s name and close for two years
- Axios — Inside Kennedy Center’s renovation scenarios
- Federal court ruling blocking Kennedy Center closure and Trump renaming
