Kennedy Center Judge Skeptical of Trump Name Return to Venue
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about the Kennedy Center’s intention to return President Donald Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue by early next month, challenging the board’s insistence on moving forward even in the face of a court ruling that blocked and reversed a previous effort.
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NPR NewsThe board called the Kennedy Center "embarrassing to the nation's capital" and a "sick and poorly run facility." Lawyers for the Justice Department also argued that the board and President Trump, who was named as the complex's chairman in February 2025, should be allowed to move ahead with a two-year renovation that would shut down most of the complex's performance venues and cost at least $250 million.
USA TodayCooper scheduled the hearing because plaintiff Rep Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves on the Kennedy Center's board, asked the judge to prevent Trump from putting his name back on the building in a capacity other than officially renaming the center. But Justice Department lawyers argued that "the Kennedy Center is in terrible trouble" and that without Trump's help, "the Center cannot survive, either structurally or financially."
PBS NewsHourJudge questions why Kennedy Center is moving so quickly to return Trump's name to building Just seconds after the Trump administration's lawyer, Bradley Mayers, began making his case at a nearly two-hour hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper interrupted to ask why the center needed to begin inscribing the president's name on the institution's facade as soon as Sept. 8.
The HillDOJ insists new Trump inscriptions are ‘not renaming’ Kennedy Center The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday defended renewed plans to inscribe President Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center, insisting they do not run afoul of previous court rulings that found the changes were unlawful. A DOJ lawyer told U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper during a nearly two-hour hearing that the renowned performing arts center was…
BBC NewsThe threat to demolish the building comes just weeks after the Kennedy Center board voted to add Trump's name back to the facade of the venue and to proceed with a two-year closure for proposed renovations.
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Despite Cooper’s skepticism of the developments, he also questioned whether he had authority to block the moves as the administration appeals his earlier ruling. He pressed a lawyer for Rep. Joyce Beatty on whether he had jurisdiction in the case given the Trump administration is pursuing an appeal of his May ruling that adding Trump’s name to the building was illegal.
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USA TodayThe battle in federal court is about whether Cooper will permanently block Trump from putting his name on the building's façade and whether to prevent the venue's board from closing the building for two years of construction.
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Justice Department lawyers previously said unless the renovation project and recognition for Trump are approved, the building could be torn down and replaced with an open-air amphitheater.
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BBC NewsTrump's lawyers have argued that without the renovations the venue "will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down".
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 The Hill Judge blocks Trump administration plan to restructure housing grants A federal judge on Wednesday halted the Trump administration’s plan to overhaul a decades-old grant program targeting housing discrimination, siding with fair housing groups that argued the changes hindered their ability to work. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, who was appointed by former President Biden, ruled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…
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02 USA Today Cooper said he hoped the government will extend their initial deadline plans to put up Trump's name, giving the court more time, and that if they don't "there will be a temporary holding pattern."
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03 Associated Press Mayers responded that the timeline was in accordance with a vote earlier this month by the Trump-aligned board. As he returned to his arguments that renovations at the Kennedy Center require energy and talent, Cooper interjected again.
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04 BBC News Attorneys from the justice department have also asked for President Donald Trump's name to be put back on the building after it was removed in June following a court order.
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05 NPR News In a statement emailed to NPR on Wednesday, a Kennedy Center spokesperson, P.J. Elliott, wrote: "This language describes a hypothetical scenario of what could happen if the center's desperately needed renovation is blocked by partisan interests."
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