1 of 5 | Construction workers build a scaffolding near the sign for the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Friday. The Kennedy Center board sought an emergency appeal to block a court order requiring the removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, but a judge denied their request. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
Trump’s name has been completely removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the executive director told the court Saturday.
Executive Director Matt Floca told the court in documents that the name was changed before the extended deadline of noon Saturday, CNN reported. The court had allowed an extension after the center missed the midnight Friday deadline due to thunderstorms, Justice Department attorneys said.
Workers began removing the name from the building early Saturday, and documents confirming the name change were filed around 11 a.m. EDT.
Since December, the center has been named the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after the center’s board, whose members Trump installed, voted to rename the venue.
Trump claimed that naming the center after him was a surprise, but the name was added to the sign the next day.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit on Dec. 23 against Trump and others alleging that renaming the center was illegal.
And on May 29, a judge agreed. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the center’s board had overstepped its authority when it voted to add Trump’s name to the center.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper said.
On Friday, a court denied the center’s last-minute request to stop the name change while the case gets appealed.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about restoring commercial fishing access to areas of the Pacific during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
