Trump Name Scrubbed From Kennedy Center Overnight
Workers removed President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center early Saturday morning after the administration missed a court-ordered Friday deadline due to weather concerns.
The removal operation began around 1:20 a.m., as New York Post reports, following a Department of Justice filing hours earlier stating the government would miss the court-imposed 11:59 p.m. Friday deadline to strip Trump’s name from the Washington landmark created fifty years ago to honor an assassinated president.
According to the New York Post, workers erected scaffolding late Friday before draping tarps over the temporary structure in the predawn hours. The actual removal of letters occurred around 3:10 a.m. in an operation lasting approximately thirty minutes.
Weather Delays and Missed Deadlines
The DOJ had requested a twelve-hour extension in a late Friday court filing, citing thunderstorms that could pose safety risks to workers removing the signage. The Kennedy Center’s board, which Trump chairs, had voted in December to rename the venue The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Workers began installing his name on the building the following day.
Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the lawsuit forcing the name removal, condemned the extension request as inexcusable and evidence of a pattern of non-compliance, according to the DOJ filing.
Federal Courts Reject Administration Appeals
Prior to the DOJ filing, US District Judge Christopher Cooper declined the department’s request to pause his order removing Trump’s name. Cooper stated he would not lift the order while a federal appeals court considers his ruling that only Congress holds authority to rename the venue.
The administration appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which also rejected the government’s request for a pause on Friday.
The center opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat assassinated in 1963. Trump, a Republican, has filled its board of trustees with allies since resuming office last year.
Legal Ruling and Broader Renovation Plans
Cooper ruled on May 29 that only Congress could rename the arts center. His order required Trump’s name removed from the building’s facade, its website, and other materials.
In urging the appeals court to pause the order, the DOJ argued it made no sense to alter the center’s name and signage only to potentially revert them again after what should be a successful appeal.
Trump announced in February a two-year closure of the center for major renovation. The president has undertaken a broader initiative to reshape Washington’s monumental core, including plans for a 250-foot arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the East Wing of the White House, which Trump had demolished in October.
With information from New York Post
