Trump's Name Must Be Kept Off Kennedy Centre Building, US Judge Rules

A federal judge blocked the Kennedy Centre on Tuesday from returning President Donald Trump 's name to the iconic performing arts venue in a move meant to recognise his renovation efforts, saying it would violate an earlier ruling that his name was illegally added to the building.

Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that, "Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Centre without Congress's blessing."

The Trump-aligned board at the Kennedy Centre voted in August to inscribe the president's name on the venue's facade so it would read "The John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J Trump."

If the Trump Kennedy Centre Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading: "Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Centre Fund."

The plaza in front of the Kennedy Centre would have also been renamed in Trump's honour, as part of the board's vote.

Cooper ruled in May that only Congress can approve changes to the Kennedy Centre's name. In an emergency hearing on the matter in August, the administration argued it was no longer attempting to rename the building and that the vote was simply a recognition of Trump's effort to secure money for much-needed renovations.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose wife sits on the Kennedy Center board, compared the move to the way hospitals and colleges recognise high-dollar donors.

But a lawyer for US Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Centre board, argued the changes amounted to "deja vu" and violated Cooper's earlier ruling.

"The law is extremely clear: The John F Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy - and no one else," Beatty said in a statement Tuesday. "But President Trump is holding the Kennedy Centre hostage unless he can put his name on this sacred memorial. The Court just rejected this proposal for the second time. This unlawfulness is as breathtaking as it is wrong, and it needs to stop."

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