US President Donald Trump’s self-aggrandisement campaign suffered a setback this week with District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order that his name be removed from the façade of the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, opened in Washington in 1971 in memory of the US president who was assassinated in 1963.
In a 94-page judgment, Cooper, an Obama-era appointee, ruled: “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
He has ordered that Trump’s name must now be taken off the institution’s title, its façade, and any other physical or digital signage on official materials within 14 days.
In one of several eyebrow-raising gestures last year, Trump announced that he was adding his own to the institution, ahead of Kennedy’s.
In December, the board decided to rename the institution and new lettering bearing Trump’s full name was affixed to the centre’s front portico the next day. The centre now would be called ‘The Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts”.
The changes, including the re-naming, were followed by cancellations by artists booked at the venue and falling ticket sales.
In February, Trump announced a two-year closure of the venue for extensive renovations (due to begin on 4 July), “in honour of the 250th Anniversary of our Country”.
Judge Cooper also temporarily blocked the center from closing for proposed renovations, two months after Trump announced its two-year closure.
He said that “in ratifying President Trump’s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging the full range of its responsibilities to the Center”.
Calling the decision to halt operations during the renovation “ill-informed and seemingly preordained”, Cooper went on: “More specifically, the Board based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.”.
Trump and his appointees are resisting.
Trump posted on social media that he would “be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them”.
He posted on social media: “Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND’.”
Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi said: “We are 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.”
Daravi said the centre would also review the judge’s decision on the renovations closure, arguing that “the reality remains that the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration, a truth even the plaintiff acknowledges.”
Daravi added: “With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”
One of those challenging the changes is board member Joyce Beatty, an Ohio congresswoman and Democrat, who have alleged in a lawsuit that they were stripped of their right to vote on board matters.
The plaintiffs later amended the lawsuit to also challenge plans to close the venue for repairs.
Beatty said in a statement: “Today’s ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law.”
She added: “The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”
John F Kennedy’s grandnephew Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman for Massachusetts, said at the time of the name change last year that he doubted the center’s name could legally be changed.
Kennedy III wrote on X: “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”.
The move also led to a wave of artists and performing groups cancelling bookings in protest, including a run of the Tony award-winning musical Hamilton.
The executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. And in March, Richard Grenell, a Trump appointee, who played a key role in the push to overhaul the institution and target “woke” culture, announced he was stepping down as president.
The center, which receives federal funding, is one of America’s leading arts venues with a huge cultural profile in America’s capital and has long enjoyed bipartisan support.
Under Trump, however, it has, as one report put it, “become an extension of the White House’s cultural agenda”.
Trump persuaded Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, to hold the World Cup draw there in December. Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors there himself, addressed House Republicans and also premiered the documentary about the first lady, Melania Trump, there in January.
Last year House Republicans also proposed changing the name of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House to the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House”. There are reportedly intentions to launch a review of the Smithsonian Institution.
A number of musical artists have cancelled their appearances at a Trump-linked US celebration in Washington DC.
Martina McBride, Bret Michaels and the Commodores and are among those who have dropped out of the celebrations, which are designed to celebrate the US’s 250th birthday.
Organisers Freedom 250 is described as a “non-partisan” organisation, but was launched last year by President Trump and is headed by Keith Krach, a first-term Trump appointee for the State Department.
The organisation only announced the appearances of McBride, Michaelson and the Commodores this week.
Some of those cancelling their appearances said they were misled about the theme of the shows, or were wary of being affiliated with a political party.
In an Instagram post, Michaels wrote that he had thought his show would be a chance to “honour our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life”.
But he concluded that the event had “evolved into something much more divisive”.
McBride also issued an Instagram statement, saying she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a non-partisan event, but that turned out to be misleading”.
Young MC, another artist scheduled to perform, expressed similar sentiments in an Instagram post, while the Commodores released a brief statement saying they chose “not to publicly affiliate with any single political party”.
Some of those who are still set to perform at the events include Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, the Grammy-winning duo. Morvan said he was “here to entertain and unite people, not divide them”.
A representative for Vanilla Ice said that the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper was “proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”.
Despite gathering some high-profile entertainment industry figures, such as Sylvester Stallone and Nicki Minaj, Trump has had a rocky relationship with many others.
Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, Billie Eilish and Bruce Springsteen are among those who have endorsed Democrats and or condemned Trump, while Elton John, Kenny Loggins and others have objected to their music being used in Trump rallies or videos.
Sources: BBC, The Guardian, SkyNews, Associated Press
[Image: https://www.kennedy-center.org/memorial/]