The battle over President Donald Trump’s name at the Kennedy Center is not over.
In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board did not have the authority to rename the historic performing arts venue. The judge said only Congress could change its official name and ordered references to Trump removed. His name was taken off the building in June.
But on August 13, Trump’s handpicked board voted to put his name back on the building in a different way.
Instead of officially renaming the Kennedy Center, the board approved an inscription beneath its existing name reading, “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board also voted to name the grounds the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, who successfully challenged the earlier renaming, called the latest move an attempt to get around the court’s ruling. The administration has already appealed Cooper’s original decision.
The new vote sets up another potential legal fight over just how far the board can go in placing Trump’s name on one of Washington’s best-known cultural institutions.