In the dead of night, behind a screen, workers began purging Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. This came hours after a judge rejected an emergency appeal to block the removal of the former president’s name.
Overnight Removal Operation
A crew spent the night removing Trump’s name, starting work in the early hours of Saturday. This followed the venue missing a federal judge’s two-week deadline to excise the words “The Donald J Trump and” from its exterior by Friday at 11:59 p.m. The extra words were added last December after Trump’s hand-picked board of trustees voted unanimously to rename the venue, which was designated as a living memorial to the 35th US president John F. Kennedy by Congress in 1964 and opened in 1971.
After erecting scaffolding on Friday evening, workers in hard hats and hi-viz vests draped tarpaulin over the temporary structure at 2 a.m. to block public views of their progress. However, through a small opening in the scaffolding covering, they were seen removing the letters at about 3 a.m. A crowd had gathered in front of the center to cheer on the workers and witness the restoration of the original name. People chanted “Shame!” and “Take it down!”
Legal Battle
US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled last month that Trump’s name had been illegally added and ordered its removal this week. This followed a legal challenge by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic representative of Ohio and ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name,” the judge wrote in his 94-page opinion, “and only Congress can change it.” Cooper also issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations, due to start in July.
Trump reacted by saying he was giving up control of the venue, which he seized in February by removing the 18 trustees appointed by former President Joe Biden, handpicking new ones, and naming himself chair. Yet less than 36 hours before the deadline, lawyers for Trump and the Kennedy Center board mounted a last-minute attempt to keep his name on the building. By then, the venue had already removed Trump’s name from its website and reportedly sent emails offering tickets to an event at “the Kennedy Center” without including the 47th president’s name.
Court Denies Appeals
At 1 p.m. on Friday, Cooper ruled that the center’s lawyers had failed to demonstrate they were likely to win their appeal or that the center would suffer “irreparable harm” if Trump’s name were purged. Lawyers for the Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the center, then appealed Cooper’s denial at 3:46 p.m. In urging the appeals court to pause the order, the DOJ said: “It does not make sense to alter the centre’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal.” But shortly after 7 p.m., this second attempt was denied, causing the crowd of more than 100 people at the Hands Off the Arts rally in front of the center to erupt in cheers and demand immediate removal.
Late on Friday, the DOJ said in a court filing it would miss the deadline because of thunderstorms that could pose safety risks for workers, seeking a 12-hour extension. Beatty called that request “inexcusable” and part of “a pattern of non-compliance,” according to the DOJ filing.
