President Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center saga continued Wednesday, the day after a federal judge unceremoniously knocked down his latest bid to add his own name to President John F. Kennedy’s memorial venue.
NBC News reported Tuesday that the center’s chief financial officer, Donna Kauranen, resigned from her position right before Trump’s handpicked board of trustees (chaired by none other than Trump himself) voted to shut down the venue indefinitely, ostensibly for repairs and renovations.
Now Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee and the plaintiff in the court battle against emblazoning the venue with Trump’s name, is requesting an emergency hearing to challenge the sudden closure, calling it “unexplained and unlawful.” Beatty filed her motion for an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon, arguing that the closure violates a prior court order that not only blocked the name change but also prevented the center from closing for renovations.
Trump’s allies at the center have claimed that the performing arts venue is in dire financial and structural straits and needs the president’s name on it to stay afloat. In a June court filing, the administration wrote that “without the name ‘Trump’ on the Building, our fundraising will not only come to a halt, but any and all monies raised or committed would be obligated to be returned, refunded, or terminated.”
Still, U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled Tuesday in no uncertain terms that the Kennedy Center could not inscribe the words “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” on the side of the building, nor anywhere else on the historic grounds. “Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote.
In a classic if-I-can’t-have-it-nobody-can tantrum, the president immediately made a “fucking crazy” call to the board to scream at Beatty. He then unleashed his anger on social media.
“The Board of The Kennedy Center today agreed, almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction. The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”
In the day since the board voted to close the center, new fencing has appeared around the building. Trump has previously threatened to demolish the center entirely if he doesn’t get his way, demonstrating yet again that if Trump isn’t in the spotlight, the show doesn’t go on.
