A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a referral from the board of directors of the Kennedy Center controlled by relatives of Donald Trump to obtain that the name of the American president be once again inscribed on the facade of the prestigious performance hall in Washington.
• Also read: Trump’s name removed from Washington’s Kennedy Center, cultural institution says
• Also read: Judge upholds removal of Trump’s name from Kennedy Center
The Republican president, after placing his close friends at the head of the institution’s board of directors, added his name to that of his distant Democratic predecessor in December to rename it “Trump Kennedy Center”.
But a federal judge ordered that Donald Trump’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center by June 12 and suspended the two-year closure of the performance hall until further notice.
The board of directors complied, but the government appealed this decision and asked an appeals court to suspend it, in order to be able to reinstate Donald Trump’s name pending a decision on the merits.
This appeals court unanimously rejected this appeal on Wednesday, concluding in particular that the government had not provided any proof of its assertions according to which, without the name of Donald Trump on the building, fundraising for the financing of the Kennedy Center would be compromised.
Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the board of directors on May 29 to remove, within two weeks, any reference “to President Trump or any individual other than President Kennedy” on the building itself, on the Kennedy Center website or on its registered trademarks.
He also temporarily suspended the closure of the hall for two years, considering that the council had failed in its “duty of prudence” by not taking into account the negative repercussions of this closure.
The magistrate nevertheless authorized the continuation of the repair work planned at the Kennedy Center, for which “the need appears glaring” and specified that he would not oppose a new decision to close if it was taken after a more in-depth evaluation of the disadvantages and advantages.
Donald Trump reacted by announcing that he would “work with Congress to transfer” control of the Kennedy Center to it.
The name change was denounced by President Kennedy’s family and by the Democratic opposition who contest its legality.
