Topline
The Kennedy Center claimed in a court filing it stands to lose “hundreds of millions” of dollars in donations that were pledged while the center included President Donald Trump’s name, saying its bylaws will mandate these donations be returned as it seeks to reverse a judge’s order that required it to revert to its original name.
Tarps have stood in front of the Kennedy Center, blocking the sign, for weeks. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts
In a court filing Monday night arguing for a stay to halt a federal judge’s order that required the removal of Trump’s name, the Kennedy Center claimed it will suffer “financial harms” that will “never be recovered,” threatening the center’s eventual plans for construction.
The filing says the bylaws of the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation require donations be returned if Trump’s name is removed, and it claims some donors were only willing to donate because the center included Trump’s name.
The filing says Trump “raised $258 million from Congress”—apparently referring to $257 million that was included for the Kennedy Center in the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—and “hundreds of millions” more from private donors.
The Kennedy Center argued in Monday’s filing that a federal judge should issue a stay pending appeal, or a pause to the court order that required Trump’s name be removed while the center pursues an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
kennedy center lauds trump’s ‘tremendous construction abiliites’
In Monday night’s filing, Kennedy Center lawyers said “the President’s tremendous construction abilities would fix the Building and restore it as the crown jewel of Washington, D.C. and the envy of the World” should it not lose the hundreds of millions it says it has earned in donations. Trump in his second term has prioritized beautification efforts in Washington, D.C., including a planned White House ballroom and an arch. His recent renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, though, has turned into a fiasco as it quickly refilled with algae, which Trump has blamed on vandals.
are the tarps still up at the kennedy center?
Yes. Large tarps have stood in front of the Kennedy Center building, blocking the sign that now lacks Trump’s name, since the early hours of June 13. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi previously told the Washington Post the tarps are up so workers can repair the marble facade, but the center has provided no indication of when they will come down. The tarps have sparked backlash from Democrats, including Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who filed the lawsuit challenging the addition of Trump’s name in December. In court filings earlier this month, Beatty accused the center of keeping up the tarps in “petulant defiance” and suggested they remain there to “massage broken egos.” Last week, a federal judge issued an order demanding the Kennedy Center explain why the tarps are still up. The report is due either by the end of July or within seven days of a planned July Kennedy Center Board of Trustees meeting, whichever comes first, and requests information about the tarps “to the extent they remain at that time.”
tangent
Comedian Bill Maher received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, among the organization’s highest-profile events as the legal drama over Trump’s name has played out. Trump was not present, but Maher and some attendees addressed the legal battle at the event. Actor Woody Harrelson, who spoke at the event, referred to the venue as the “Trump-Kennedy Center” before adding, “Oh right, we fixed that. Not that you’d be able to notice.” Maher, in a red carpet interview, said the tarp debacle is “brilliant,” adding, “As much as you could try to think of his next move, you could never do it. Only he can think of that. It just makes it better and funnier.”
key background
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May the center must revert to its original name and temporarily blocked the center from closing for two years of renovations. Cooper said the 1964 law that established the center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy,” and that any name change must be approved by Congress. Trump launched a takeover of the center early in his second term, purging its board and replacing fired members with allies, who voted in December to add his name to the venue.
further reading
At the Kennedy Center, a prize for Bill Maher — and a lot of Trump jokes (Washington Post)
Federal Judge Demands Answers About Tarps Blocking Kennedy Center Sign (Forbes)