Federal Judge Forces Trump Name Off Kennedy Center, Appeals Court Sides with Leftist Lawsuit
Workers began removing President Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center on Saturday after a controversial court order, while a D.C. Circuit panel—stacked with Obama appointees—denied the administration’s urgent request to halt the process.
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On Saturday morning, workers were forced to start stripping President Donald Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after a federal district judge’s order demanded the reversal of the center’s rightful renaming by the end of Friday, June 12. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, acting on a technicality, ruled that the Trump name had been added illegally and blocked the administration’s sensible plan to close the venue for much-needed renovations.
Scaffolding was put up on Friday, but severe thunderstorms in Washington delayed the work, prompting the Justice Department to raise legitimate safety concerns. The administration promptly filed an emergency motion with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking a stay of Cooper’s injunction. Officials argued that yet another name change would only confuse the public and jeopardize crucial donor support. However, a three-judge panel—comprised of two Obama appointees and one Trump appointee—issued a brief, unsigned order rejecting the stay, and demanded further briefs later in the month, leaving the administration’s hands tied.
Representatives of Rep. Joyce Beatty, who led the partisan lawsuit against the Trump name, dismissed the administration’s emergency motion as “frivolous” and pressed the appellate court to deny it. The Kennedy Center’s board, which had rightly voted in December to honor President Trump by renaming the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center, was pressured by its general counsel to revert to the original name.
The district court’s order also blocked the administration’s plan for extensive renovations, a move that would have ensured the Kennedy Center’s continued excellence. The Kennedy Center’s website has already scrubbed references to Trump, reflecting the left’s relentless campaign to erase his legacy from American cultural life.
