Photo Credit: Mike Stoll
Donald Trump’s name will stay off the Kennedy Center after the Court of Appeals ruled against the board’s motion to stay the decision to remove it.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board’s motion to stay a lower court’s decision that the president’s name be removed.
In May, a federal district court judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the facade of the building and all other signage, as well as the deletion of his name as part of the title of the arts institution on its official website. That also includes any trademark applications that included Trump’s name.
Workers removed “Donald J. Trump” from the building’s facade on June 13 to comply with a court order, but that section of the center remains covered in tarps—presumably while the board awaited the court’s decision on its appeal.
The judge ruled in favor of Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), who sued Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board in December, arguing that the move to add Trump’s name to the institution was illegal. The Kennedy Center board was quick to appeal the decision, arguing that the removal of Trump’s name “threatens to impede the Center’s fundraising efforts and contribute to the financial decline of the Center.”
But on July 8, the three-judge appellate court panel denied the motion for a stay pending appeal because the board “failed to show how they will be irreparably injured absent a stay.” The court also said that the center had “failed to support this assertion with any specific facts or evidence.”
“They offer only the conclusory assertions of the Kennedy Center’s Executive Director that were made in a factually unsupported declaration,” the ruling stated.
“Today’s ruling again affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful,” said Beatty in a statement. “His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people. Now it is time for the Trump administration to accept this, comply with the law, and take the tarps down.”
“This is a great win for the rule of law and the American people’s decision to honor John F. Kennedy’s memory,” added Norm Eisen, co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinksy, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group, who have represented Beatty in the matter. “It is also a clear reminder that public institutions are not personal branding opportunities for any president.”
Following the judge’s ruling in May, Trump said he would order the Commerce Department to transfer management of the Kennedy Center to Congress—as the legality of his renaming attempt centered on the fact that it must be a decision made by Congress. However, the Kennedy Center filed its appeal shortly thereafter.
Earlier this year, Trump announced that the Kennedy Center would shut down for two years starting on July 4 to undergo a complete transformation. But the court’s decision also blocked that move, pointing out that the center must remain open for a certain number of events per year.
