Kennedy Centre board votes to put Trump’s name on the building – again

The Kennedy Centre board voted on Thursday to add US President Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the performing arts venue and move forward with a two-year closure, according to congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a trustee through her position in Congress, and her lawyers.

A representative for the Kennedy Centre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The moves set up a test of US District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled in May that letters affixed to the building and spelling out Trump’s name were added illegally.

The judge ordered them removed and at the same time blocked a closure that was set to take effect on July 5, saying that an earlier board vote endorsing the move was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained”.

“This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the court’s ruling and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed,” Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio who is an ex officio board member, said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”

During Trump’s second term, the Kennedy Centre has become an unlikely – and highly visible – metaphor of presidential power.