Trump name must stay off Kennedy Center, says US court
The center opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy
A U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's name must remain off the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while he challenges a judge’s order that required its removal.
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The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to pause the lower court order in a lawsuit brought by Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member.
Trump’s name was removed from the centre's facade and signage in a pre-dawn operation last month after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal and blocked Trump's plans to close the center for renovations.
The center's board, which Trump chairs, voted in December to rename it The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
Workers began affixing his name to the building the next day.
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The appeals court stressed that its ruling did not address the merits of the dispute and that Trump's appeal can proceed.
The White House had no immediate comment.
“Today’s ruling again affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful,” Beatty said in a statement.
“His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people."
The Trump administration argued that removing Trump's name would hurt fundraising and worsen the center's finances.
The appeals court said those claims were not supported by specific facts or evidence.
The center opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat assassinated in 1963.
Trump, a Republican, has packed its board of trustees with allies since resuming office last year.
Trump in February announced a two-year closure of the center for a major renovation.
He has made a broader push to reshape Washington's monumental core, including plans for a 250-foot (75-meter) arch and a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom on the site of the East Wing of the White House, which Trump had demolished in October.