According to reports, lawyers for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have directed employees to remove President Donald Trump’s name from signs and other materials bearing his title to comply with a judge’s order. The deadline for everything to be done is June 12 – two days before Trump’s birthday.
The memo from the center’s legal counsel, which was issued June 4, asked employees to change email signatures to reflect “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” or “Kennedy Center.”
The initial opinion was made by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper on May 29, directing that Trump’s name be removed, stating that it was added illegally. He also stated that Trump’s board of trustees’ vote last December to rename the institution the “Trump-Kennedy Center” violated the 1964 federal law, which created the center, arguing that “the Kennedy Center must be named for, and is meant to honor, President Kennedy alone.”
Judge Cooper also overturned Trump’s planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center in July to begin major renovations. Counsel for the Kennedy Center said that the ruling wasn’t declaring the closure illegal, it felt the vote to close “inappropriate and that any subsequent vote must take more information into account.”
In a statement, the Kennedy Center’s Vice President of Public Relations, Roma Daravi, said, “We are complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership.”
Trump lashed out at Cooper after the ruling on social media, claiming that it was “impossible for me to be treated fairly,” tying the judge to other rulings blocking Trump’s executive moves, such as the Supreme Court’s rejection of his broad tariffs.
It’s the latest setback for Trump, with the news coming in the wake of several artists named to perform at a “Freedom 250” concert, including Young MC and Morris Day and the Time, disavowing any involvement.
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Photo: Getty
