Kennedy Center: Trump desperately wants to carve his name into the marble - the judge says: Denied

Donald Trump wanted to see his name back on the facade of the Kennedy Center. This time, it was not supposed to become part of the official name, at least according to the wording cooked up by his board. Under "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts," it was supposed to say: "Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump." A federal judge in Washington has now put an end to that wordplay. Christopher R. Cooper ruled that no memorial inscriptions for President Trump, or for anyone or anything else, may be placed at the Kennedy Center without congressional approval. That applies to Trump, too.

The Trump-dominated board approved the new attempt in August. The grounds in front of the building were also supposed to get a new name: "President Donald J. Trump Plaza." On top of that came a second planned inscription if the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reaches $100 million. The building would then also say: "Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund." Cooper did not rule on that part for now because the Center had said it would not add the inscription until the $100 million mark had been reached. The judge did not leave much room for hope, though. In his view, that wording would just as clearly violate his earlier order.

The fight has a backstory written in marble. Trump's name had already been put on the building in December after the board aligned with him voted to honor his role in securing $257 million for a sweeping renovation. In May, Cooper ruled that renaming unlawful. Congress had created the building and dedicated it to John F. Kennedy, so only Congress could decide to change that dedication. The letters spelling Trump's name had to come back down.

The Center appealed and complied for the time being. A massive scaffold covered in tarps has stood in front of the facade ever since. Then came another attempt in August to bring the same name back with a different grammatical justification. Cooper called the construction "linguistic gymnastics." The board's resolution, he said, violated a court order and the law passed by Congress. Marble apparently does not get any softer through semantics.

The plans also met fierce resistance from Democratic lawmakers. Joyce Beatty pushed back in particular. She sits on the board as an ex officio member and is pursuing the lawsuit against the Center. Her attorneys called the renewed attempt a "breathtaking act of defiance" and asked Cooper to block the inscription. The judge did exactly that. The planned renaming of the grounds is covered by his order as well.

The defense had meanwhile loaded an astonishing amount of economic weight onto the name itself. Kennedy Center officials and Justice Department attorneys argued in recent weeks that Trump's continued support for the building depended on some visible recognition of him outside it. According to their account, the Center is in financial trouble and the building is in bad physical shape. A court filing said that without such recognition, donors could walk away and financial contributions could dry up. Then the money for the renovation would disappear as well. So would the expertise needed to restore a building the government describes as severely damaged.

Beatty's attorneys described that position as effectively holding the Center hostage. Since Trump took control of the institution at the beginning of his 2nd term, artists have canceled appearances. Attendance has also fallen sharply. Some donors have pulled their support. A building meant to honor an assassinated president has turned into a fight over how much personal recognition a sitting president can demand in return for his help. The law is not especially receptive to personal wishes. The federal statute governing the Kennedy Center says no additional memorials or memorial plaques may be installed in public areas. The board tried to place the planned inscription outside that restriction. Cooper did not leave that linguistic side door open. His ruling Tuesday makes clear that changing the wording does not make the same legal boundary disappear.

The appeal is still moving forward. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has not yet ruled on whether Trump's name can return to the Center. The dispute could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Until then, Cooper's order remains in force. The ruling came shortly before a meeting of the board, which Trump himself chairs. The board was expected to vote again on closing the main building for 2 years. It would already be the 3rd attempt. A draft described the building as dangerous and cited an incident this month in which, during a storm, a 1.52-meter-long piece of plaster fell from the ceiling of the Grand Foyer.

That closure is tied up in court as well. Cooper had temporarily blocked the first resolution because, in his view, the board members had improperly rubber-stamped Trump's plan without giving it sufficient consideration. Justice Department attorneys now want that block lifted. The Center plans to offer limited programming during the work in the smaller section of the complex known as the Reach. Major events such as the Kennedy Center Honors are supposed to be held somewhere else.

There is not much programming left right now anyway. Since July, when the main building was originally supposed to close, the event calendar has been largely empty. At a hearing before Cooper's ruling, Justice Department attorney William S. Jankowski said the Center could potentially end up in bankruptcy if it kept operating with reduced revenue. Cooper then asked whether a charitable trust could even file for bankruptcy. The Justice Department attorneys had no answer.

Trump himself weighed in shortly before the ruling was released. The Kennedy Center was in a virtual state of collapse, he wrote. Cooper was very hostile and conflicted, and the building was doomed unless it could close for renovations. Cooper's answer is in his order: The inscription remains prohibited. A name that desperately wants to be set in stone will have to make do with paper for now.