Donald Trump has unleashed on the Kennedy Center and the judge presiding over a legal battle over the use of the president’s name on the building.
Trump, 80, has become fixated on the once-prestigious arts venue, which opened in 1971 as a living memorial to slain president John F. Kennedy.
In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that Trump’s name be removed from the outside of the venue, noting that only Congress could approve a change to the Kennedy Center’s name.
On Aug. 13, the MAGA-aligned board of the venue voted to add “Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump” beneath the center’s name. Additionally, a second inscription, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund,” would also be added if it could raise $100 million.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, the lone Kennedy Center board member fighting Trump’s changes, filed an emergency motion accusing her colleagues of undertaking a “breathtaking assault on the rule of law.” The Democrat is an ex officio member representing Congress on the board, which is made up of members appointed by the president and ex officio members who are designated federal and local government officials to provide public oversight.
An emergency court hearing last Thursday saw the Trump administration argue to get Trump’s name back on the D.C. icon.
Judge Cooper, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014, presided over the two-hour hearing, where he heard arguments for both sides but did not make a ruling, according to the Washington Post. The report added that the judge “pressed” Kennedy Center lawyers to explain the trustees’ reasons for restoring Trump’s name to the building.
In a Sunday evening Truth Social post, Trump insulted the building’s age and condition while sending a message to Judge Cooper.
“Kennedy Center is an old and decrepit building that is badly in need of a major construction and public relations fix before it can attain greatness and prestige, perhaps far greater than ever before,” Trump wrote, before taking aim at Cooper.
Trump added, “It has been losing a fortune for many years, and will continue to do so if the highly conflicted judge on the case doesn’t allow us to do what has to be done!”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Kennedy Center’s current public relations team for comment.
In filings ahead of last week’s court appearance, Trump administration lawyers suggested the building could be bulldozed and replaced with an outdoor amphitheater unless they could shut the place down for two years to carry out the renovations the president has deemed necessary.
They argued that the venue was “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital.”
Beatty’s legal team last week shut down the Trump administration’s argument that the center would be in a “financial and structural death spiral” unless the president’s name was attached.
“This is not true,” Beatty’s lawyers claimed, referencing documents obtained by the Washington Post that show ticket revenue and fundraising actually plunged when Trump’s name was added to the facade of the building in December.
Speaking on MS NOW’s The Weekend on Saturday, Beatty said that Trump’s threat to demolish the Kennedy Center should be taken seriously.
“This is a president, that we know... likes tearing things down, he likes putting his name on buildings, and he has lost in court because it’s unlawful,” she said. “That’s why we went back to court.”
When asked how it compared to Trump demolishing the East Wing of the White House, Beatty said of the Kennedy Center, “This is a living memorial, the only memorial to an assassinated president that was beloved by many.”
She added, “But we know Donald Trump is acting like a spoiled kid. ‘I didn’t get my way, I’m throwing a tantrum, and now I will tear it down.’ So we’re not taking it lightly.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also weighed in on the controversy over the Kennedy Center last week.
Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s legal battle, Lutnick said Trump wanted to remake the iconic building because “it’s fun for him.”
“The president works all day every day, and there are two things that he does for enjoyment: he plays golf on the weekend, and he builds,” Lutnick, whose wife sits on the Kennedy Center’s Trump-stacked board, added.
“He loves to build. So why are we talking about this? This is what he enjoys.”
