DOJ appeals Kennedy Center ruling ahead of deadline to remove Trump’s name
Less than a day before a court-ordered deadline to remove President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal to challenge the ruling that found his attempt to rename and close the performing arts center for lengthy renovations was illegal.
Two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the Trump administration 14 days to remove references to the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" and "Trump Kennedy Center" from the building and grounds, as well the center's website.
While Trump's name has already been removed from the Kennedy Center's website and YouTube page, his name has remained on the building itself. In a filing last week, lawyers for the Trump administration said they were continuing to "assess their litigation strategy."
On social media following the ruling, Trump appeared to back away from his planned renovation of the center and attacked the judge overseeing the case.
"Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into "NEVER NEVER LAND," Trump said in the post, saying he wanted to turn decision-making about the future of the center over to Congress.
"Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of," Trump wrote in the social media post.
In his decision, the judge ruled that the rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the "Trump Kennedy Center" violated the law, writing, "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."
The judge also said the Kennedy Center Board made an "ill-informed" and "seemingly preordained" decision to close the center for two years starting in July for major renovations.
Congress created the famed cultural institution in a federal statute, designating it as a living memorial in 1964 shortly after President John F. Kennedy's death.
Trump announced in December that the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees, which the president himself now chairs and filled with his hand-picked appointees, had voted "unanimously" to rename the building. Workers added signage with his name shortly after.
The lawsuit that led to the judge's order was brought by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who sits on the Kennedy Board of Trustees as one of its ex-officio members.
