Topline
The Trump administration’s threat to demolish the Kennedy Center should a court block it from inscribing President Donald Trump’s name is a “breathtaking assault on the rule of law,” plaintiff Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said in a court filing late Wednesday as a hearing on her motion to halt the inscription looms.
Trump administration lawyers suggested in a court filing earlier this week the Kennedy Center could be demolished. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Key Facts
In a court filing supporting her motion for the court to block the Kennedy Center from inscribing Trump’s name on the venue, Beatty lambasted the Trump administration for suggesting in a filing earlier this week that it would demolish the building if the court does not allow it to inscribe Trump’s name.
“Defendants now openly threaten to do further damage to this sacred memorial if they do not get their way,” Beatty said, also warning of “enormous damage to public confidence in the rule of law if Defendants’ not-so-subtle threats prevail.”
Beatty doubled down on her arguments, first made in a motion last week, that the Trump administration’s effort to inscribe Trump’s name and name the Kennedy Center’s grounds after him violate the law that designates the institution as a memorial for former President John F. Kennedy.
Beatty cites a federal law that prohibits “additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials,” alleging the Kennedy Center’s effort to inscribe Trump’s name and rename the grounds “plainly violates” the statute.
She also accused the Kennedy Center of falsely claiming Trump is helping the Kennedy Center from financial ruin, citing a Washington Post article from earlier this week that found ticket sales and fundraising efforts plummeted after the center adopted Trump’s name.
Beatty said the Kennedy Center’s effort to honor Trump was “prompted by—and transparently designed to circumvent” the court’s prior order that blocked the institution from renaming itself after Trump.
crucial quote
“In plain English, Defendants have not-so-subtly said: ‘What a nice Kennedy Center you have here. What a shame should something happen to it.’ This is a breathtaking assault on the rule of law. It is delusional. And it must stop,” Beatty wrote.
what to watch for
Both parties are expected to meet in court Thursday afternoon for a hearing on Beatty’s motion to block the Kennedy Center from inscribing Trump’s name on the venue. In her motion, Beatty asked the court for a temporary stay, which would immediately halt the Kennedy Center from adding the inscription while it weighs a permanent injunction, which would permanently block the inscription.
Why Did The Trump Administration Threaten To Demolish The Kennedy Center?
In a court filing earlier this week, Justice Department lawyers suggested the Kennedy Center may need to be demolished if the court does not allow it to inscribe Trump’s name, claiming donors will only contribute if Trump is recognized. “Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site,” the filing says. The filing painted a dire portrait of the Kennedy Center’s financial and structural health, saying it is “dangerously dilapidated, outdated, and decrepit,” and that its financial woes have left the center in a state of “terminal decline.” The filing portrays Trump as the center’s savior, saying his “efforts and prestige provide the sole hope for the Center’s financial survival, and structural renewal.”
key background
At a meeting earlier this month, the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees—which Trump had previously filled with allies—voted to close for two years for renovations, which Trump has long pushed for. At that meeting, the board also voted on a resolution to add two inscriptions to the Kennedy Center’s facade: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” and a second that reads, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund,” if the fund raises more than $100 million. The resolution also says the grounds the Kennedy Center sits on will be named “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” The Kennedy Center said in a court filing it would not add the inscription until Sept. 8 at the earliest. The resolution was passed months after a court ruled the Kennedy Center could not add Trump to the venue’s name, with district judge Christopher R. Cooper saying in a ruling the law makes “crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy.”
further reading
Trump Administration Says It May Demolish Kennedy Center If Court Blocks Renovations (Forbes)
Judge Asked To Block Kennedy Center From Inscribing Trump’s Name (Forbes)