Judge won't halt deadline to take Trump's name off Kennedy Center

A federal judge on Friday rejected an eleventh-hour attempt by the Kennedy Center to pause the removal of President Trump’s name from the renowned performing arts center while an appeal plays out. The institution’s board had asked Judge Christopher Cooper to halt his previous order requiring that Trump’s name come off the facade of the building by Friday, arguing it would be “forced to squander time and money” if the appeals court rules in its favor. “Additionally, removal of the name threatens to impede the Center’s fundraising efforts and contribute to the financial decline of the Center,” lawyers for the Kennedy Center wrote. “Moreover, requiring a name change now, only to potentially revert back to the current name after appeal, would be incredibly confusing for the public.” Cooper ruled Friday that the defendants had not “made a strong showing that [they] are likely to succeed on the merits” of an appeal or proved they would be irreparably harmed if their motion was denied. He noted the Kennedy Center had “apparently taken substantial steps” to comply with his late-May order. “These efforts undermine the notion that Defendants face irreparable harm in complying with the order in full,” Cooper wrote. “What’s more, issuance of a stay pending appeal would not be in the public interest, which is rarely served by the ‘perpetuation’ of ‘unlawful’ governmental action.” The order came as video Friday showed workers on scaffolding preparing to take the signage down. The Kennedy Center board, chaired by Trump, voted in November to rename the renowned arts and culture institution “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” His name was added to the building a month later. Cooper blocked the move in May, siding with a challenge brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio board member. He also found that the board’s vote to close the center for a two-year renovation starting this summer was unlawful. “We know we are on the right side of justice and the law,” Beatty said outside the Kennedy Center on Friday. “And when they tried to silence me, they had to understand that they were going to be in a fight because we cannot be silenced no matter who it is, and the law is on our side.” The judge’s decisions drew strong rebuke from Trump, who wrote in a May 29 post on Truth Social that Cooper should be “ashamed” of himself. “Unfortunately, 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,” the president wrote. Cooper’s order marks a blow to the Trump administration’s attempts to refashion iconic landmarks in the nation’s capital, many of which have been met with swift legal challenges.