Kennedy Center finds a new way to put Trump’s name on the building — Democrats race back to court

BS BULLETIN

The Kennedy Center has agreed not to restore Trump’s name to its facade before Sept. 8, giving a federal judge time to consider another challenge.
The board voted 20–3 to add “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” beneath the Kennedy Center name and designate the grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
The same board approved a two-year renovation closure, while the National Symphony Orchestra is already preparing to perform at six other Washington-area venues.

The great Washington battle over Donald Trump’s name and the Kennedy Center has entered another round. And if you’re keeping score at home, you’re going to need a bigger scorecard.

The Kennedy Center has told a federal court it will wait until at least Sept. 8 before carrying out its newest plan to put President Trump’s name back on the building — months after a federal judge ordered Trump’s name removed.

But there’s an important distinction this time. The board isn’t proposing to rename the place the Trump-Kennedy Center again.

Instead, it wants the building to read:

“The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

And if that wasn’t enough Trump for everybody, the board also wants the grounds surrounding the center designated “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”

Last December, the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center board voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. That eventually ran smack into U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper. In May, Cooper ruled that the board couldn’t simply rename a congressionally established memorial to President John F. Kennedy. He ordered Trump’s name removed from the facade and branding, including the center’s website. The administration complied in June after unsuccessful attempts to delay the order. Trump’s exterior signage came down, references were removed from the website and related trademark applications were withdrawn.

That might have been the end of the story. Except this is Donald Trump we’re talking about. On Aug. 13, the board voted again. This time it approved an inscription crediting Trump for restoring and renovating the building rather than formally renaming the institution after him. According to Reuters, the vote was 20–3. The resolution reportedly declared that the board wanted to honor Trump for his “existential and unprecedented contributions to the survival of the center by all legal means.” Notice those last four words: “By all legal means.” I suspect Judge Cooper noticed them too.

Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, successfully brought the earlier lawsuit challenging the Trump renaming.

She’s back. Beatty’s attorneys argue that the new inscription is essentially an attempt to accomplish through creative wording what Cooper already prohibited. Beatty called the board’s newest maneuver a “transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling.” The Kennedy Center initially agreed not to make the change before Aug. 27. It has now extended that commitment through Sept. 8. But according to the latest court filings, the center has not agreed to wait indefinitely for Cooper to rule. That means the clock is ticking.

And it sets up a wonderfully Washington question: Does saying a building was “Restored and Renovated by Donald J. Trump” amount to renaming it after Donald J. Trump?

Lawyers everywhere just heard a cash register ring.

There’s a much bigger fight hiding underneath the name battle. While everybody is staring at the letters on the facade, something considerably more consequential is happening inside.

The Kennedy Center board has also voted to move forward with Trump’s plan to shut the main building for approximately two years while it undergoes a major renovation.

The renovation plans run roughly 180 pages and contemplate substantial work throughout the aging complex, including its marble exterior, theaters and public spaces. The board’s previous attempt to approve the closure was blocked by Cooper, who called its decision-making “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” and said trustees had failed to adequately consider their responsibility to keep the performing-arts institution operating.

So the board went back and did it again. This time it considered alternatives and once again decided that closing the main building was preferable to trying to renovate around performances. The newer REACH portion of the campus would remain open for limited programming. And the disruption is no longer theoretical.

The National Symphony Orchestra has now announced that its upcoming season will be scattered among six Washington-area venues while the Kennedy Center is unavailable. It plans 64 classical concerts, including 56 at local venues and eight on tour.

That’s the part of this dispute that deserves more attention than whatever Trump’s nameplate ultimately says. The Kennedy Center is actually getting a massive renovation.

According to renovation documents obtained by Axios, the plans include polishing the center’s famous Carrara marble exterior and substantial renovations to its halls, theaters and Grand Foyer.

Interestingly, the plans reportedly don’t reveal some giant gold-plated Trump makeover. The plans are largely concerned with infrastructure and substantial upgrades to an aging building. That doesn’t settle the legal dispute over whether the board can close the facility. But it does complicate the political caricature that the entire renovation is simply an elaborate scheme to put Trump’s name on something. The center has genuine infrastructure needs. The question before the court is whether the board is exercising its authority properly in addressing them.

Because this story wasn’t Washington enough already, we now have TarpGate. A large blue-and-white covering has obscured part of the Kennedy Center’s facade for more than two months. The center says it’s there because scaffolding is necessary for roof and water-damage repairs. Beatty’s side suspects something more political and argues that the covering obscures the Kennedy Center’s congressionally prescribed identification. Judge Cooper now wants an explanation for that too.

So we have reached the stage where a federal judge, members of Congress, Justice Department lawyers and Kennedy Center officials are litigating the constitutional implications of a tarp. Washington remains undefeated.

Folks, if Washington spends another three weeks litigating a blue tarp, I’m proposing a new inscription myself:

THE JOHN F. KENNEDY MEMORIAL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

RESTORED BY DONALD TRUMP

DELAYED BY 147 LAWYERS

Now that’s truth in advertising.