A judge on Friday ordered the removal of US President Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, ruling that the iconic Washington venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington directed the Trump administration to take down all physical signage bearing Trump’s name and to eliminate any references to a “Trump Kennedy Centre” from official materials within 14 days.
“The Kennedy Centre’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the centre 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,” Cooper wrote.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Centre its name, and only Congress can change it.”
The judge also blocked the administration from closing the arts venue for major renovations, ruling that the Kennedy Centre board’s March 16 vote to close the facility was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” with no regard for its legal obligations.
“The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one,” Cooper wrote.
