WASHINGTON — The facade of the Kennedy Center still displayed President Donald Trump’s name on Saturday morning, missing a court-mandated Friday deadline for removing all references to Trump from the renowned performing arts facility and its operations.
Workers had positioned scaffolding around the area bearing Trump’s name on Friday, but just after midnight, Kennedy Center officials petitioned a judge for additional time until Saturday at noon Eastern Time, citing thunderstorms that had moved through Washington and disrupted their timeline.
In their court submission, the Kennedy Center provided assurance that “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”
Hours later, crews started covering the scaffolding with protective tarps.
Throughout Friday, dozens of spectators gathered on the plaza facing the Kennedy Center, snapping photos and periodically erupting in celebration while chanting “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who filed the lawsuit demanding Trump’s name be stripped from the facility, was observed at the plaza during the demonstration.
Earlier on Friday, a judge denied a motion to delay the court-imposed deadline. The venue’s management appealed this decision, but that effort was also rejected Friday night.
Following years of minimal involvement with the Kennedy Center during his initial presidency, Trump has exercised significant control over the institution since returning to office. Within just one month of beginning his second term, he removed the center’s existing leadership and installed a new board of trustees that appointed him as chairman. Trump’s name was promptly displayed on the building.
In his decision stating that only Congress has authority to alter the Kennedy Center’s name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also prevented the administration from shutting down the cultural facility for extensive renovations scheduled to begin in July and continue for two years.
The Kennedy Center’s leadership contended in their Friday appeal that the renovation was critically necessary and criticized the lower court, using language that echoed Trump’s speaking style, for obstructing their efforts.
“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” the appeal stated. “Indeed, total collapse!”
While the Kennedy Center has resisted attempts to strip Trump’s name from the structure, it has implemented measures to follow Cooper’s original order.
A June 4 staff memorandum from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel instructed that email signatures, letterhead and other materials must show the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center’s website has removed Trump’s name. Additionally, an earlier email to members promoting ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony was sent from the Kennedy Center without referencing Trump’s name.
