Trump’s Name Won’t Be Coming off the Kennedy Center Just Yet, Despite Court Order

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would not commit to removing President Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center on Sunday, despite a judge’s order requiring it to be done within two weeks. 

“I’m not sure if that’s going to be appealed or not, but I think, you know, there’s controversy on both sides of this about that ruling,” Burgum said on CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” when asked if the name would be removed.

Read More: How Donald Trump Conquered the Kennedy Center, Just to Shutter It

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper wrote in his opinion that the 1964 statute that led to the creation of the Kennedy Center makes “crystal clear” that the center is to be named for President John F. Kennedy only. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote.

In December of last year, the center’s board voted to change its name to the “Trump Kennedy Center.” Soon after the vote, 18 new letters were added to the building’s facade in front of Kennedy’s name to read: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” The change was also reflected and on the website and promotional materials for events. When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the change on social media, she said it was “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”

Trump had announced in February that, after becoming chairman of the Kennedy Center, he would close the cultural institution’s doors for an approximately two-year renovation project starting in July. The current voting board members—all of whom were selected by Trump—approved the renovations.

Judge Cooper said in his ruling that the board’s decision to close the venue was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.” 

Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the center, said Friday that the institution was “confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”

Secretary Burgum’s hedging came as Trump attacked the decision and the judge behind it on social media Friday and Saturday. In two lengthy posts on Truth Social totaling more than 1,300 words, Trump attacked both U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper and his wife, saying it was “impossible for [him] to be treated fairly.”

“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 said on Friday night. 

Without any evidence, Trump also said in a separate post on Saturday that Cooper’s wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, was to blame in part for the ruling. Jeffress is a partner at Hecker Fink, the law firm representing former President Joe Biden in his lawsuit against the Justice Department. She also served as a federal prosecutor and counselor to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Trump claimed the center is ‘rusted’ and ‘bug infested’

Burgum said in the CNN interview that the refurbishment launched by Trump was badly needed, claiming that “the structural integrity of the building, the deterioration issues with the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, the HVAC systems, needed massive repairs.”

“And President Trump was willing to get out, raise private funds, dedicate his time as a master builder to restore this building. And now, a judge says ‘No’,” he told Bash.  The judge’s decision, however, only temporarily blocks the closure, and “does not bar the board from reconsidering the closure issue in a prudent manner,” the opinion says. 

Trump described the center, which was opened in 1971, as “rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested.”

If it does decide to close, however, Judge Cooper wrote that the board needs sufficient information to make an “independent” decision, taking account of “its obligation to both maintain and operate a premiere arts venue,” while memorializing Kennedy.

Trump said in a later post that he had “canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge.” 

The center has already undergone massive layoffs—with more expected—as the board said it plans to retain only a bare-bones workforce during the two-year shutdown.

Trump’s takeover of the center has been marked by controversy from the start. Many artists withdrew from performances as the Trump Administration asserted more control over the center’s programming, from folk singer Kristy Lee to jazz group the Cookers.  The name change had prompted the long-time host of the Kennedy Center’s annual Christmas Eve jazz performance, Chuck Redd, to cancel the yearly event. Even before the name change, Trump’s takeover led producers behind the hit musical Hamilton to cancel their performance at the iconic D.C. center.

“The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center,” Tony-award winning Hamilton creator told the New York Times last year. “We’re just not going to be part of it.”