\n The Kennedy Center board told a federal judge Thursday it will not attempt to add President Donald Trump\u2019s name to the building or grounds until October 8 at the earliest, a one-month delay from previous plans.\n <\/p>\n
\n The announcement came in a one-sentence court filing following a hearing earlier in the day where the Kennedy Center and Justice Department were on the defensive about its goal of putting Trump\u2019s name back on the center after its previous attempt was blocked this summer.\n <\/p>\n
\n District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, DC, had asked pointed questions of the Justice Department during the two-hour hearing, pushing for a reason why the center wanted to add Trump\u2019s name as soon as September 8.\n <\/p>\n
\n Describing that date as arbitrary, Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said that if the center didn\u2019t quickly change course on its timeline, he may have to issue a temporary order that bars the center from moving ahead with adding the president\u2019s name back to its building while the legal wrangling continues.\n <\/p>\n
\n The board says it wants to add Trump\u2019s name to the site to acknowledge his \u201congoing\u201d contributions to its maintenance, the DOJ is arguing, in an attempt to distinguish the proposal from its previous attempt to add Trump\u2019s name to the center writ-large.\n <\/p>\n
\n The legal challenge from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty contends that Congress did not authorize such a move, even if the court were to agree with how the DOJ was framing it, and that it violates Cooper\u2019s previous order.\n <\/p>\n
\n Before Thursday\u2019s hearing, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the center\u2019s physical future is in doubt if Trump\u2019s name isn\u2019t attached.\n <\/p>\n
\n Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, he said the center\u2019s demolition will be an \u201ceventuality\u201d if Trump isn\u2019t able to renovate the center \u2014 but also dispelled the idea such a move is imminent.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cBad things happen, but they\u2019re not going to happen on Thursday,\u201d Lutnick said. \u201cNo one\u2019s saying it\u2019s happening on Thursday. It\u2019s just an eventuality, but that\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI mean, this is the board classically capturing the greatest fundraiser and greatest builder ever by putting his name on it and saying, \u201cOK, OK, you wanted your name. Here it is. Now go do it,\u2019\u201d Lutnick added. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the board\u2019s decision.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Lutnick\u2019s wife is among the Kennedy Center board members and the secretary sat in the courtroom for the duration of Thursday\u2019s hearing.\n <\/p>\n
\n As Brantley Mayers, the DOJ lawyer, presented his main argument that the new renaming gambit was needed to help ensure private donations continue to pour into the center\u2019s coffers, the judge quickly interjected, asking: \u201cWhat does that have to do with what Congress intended in the statutes?\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Cooper ruled earlier this year that the center\u2019s decision to rename the venue \u201cThe Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts\u201d violated federal law stating that the building could not be named for anyone other than the late president. Trump\u2019s name came off the building in June but a tarp has blocked the facade ever since.\n <\/p>\n
\n The center\u2019s board voted on August 13 to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center\u2019s sign that says the venue was \u201cRestored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.\u201d Another add to the front referencing Trump could come later if an endowment reaches $100 million, the board has said. The center also plans to rename the physical site the building it sits on in honor of Trump.\n <\/p>\n
\n The administration is arguing that renaming the center\u2019s plaza for Trump does not run afoul of congressional statutes designating the center as a memorial to Kennedy alone.\n <\/p>\n
\n But Cooper suggested on Thursday that under DOJ\u2019s theory, the board would be authorized under the law to name the parking garage after former President Barack Obama or the campus after former President George W Bush, and that every single parcel of the complex could be renamed for whomever the board sees fit.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe whole thing would be for sale, basically \u2014 and that would be consistent with Congress\u2019 overall scheme?\u201d Cooper asked. Mayers did not push back against that interpretation of his arguments.\n <\/p>\n
\n The case was brought by Beatty, an officio member of the center\u2019s board.\n <\/p>\n
\n Her lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky, told the judge that the board\u2019s latest renaming gambit \u201cis part and parcel of everything\u201d he considered earlier this year when he ruled against the center\u2019s first renaming bid.\n <\/p>\n
\n He urged Cooper to intervene now on a temporary basis because he didn\u2019t trust that the center wouldn\u2019t move ahead with its plans in secrecy and before the judge made a final decision.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m worried that they might do this in the middle of the night,\u201d Zelinsky said at one point.\n <\/p>\n
\n The board is arguing that the Trump-related name changes are necessary to secure private contributions to the Kennedy Center for what it describes as desperately needed repairs, and it has even suggested that the center could be demolished \u2014 if the changes were to be blocked \u2014 because of the poor shape that its infrastructure is in.\n <\/p>\n
\n Seizing on that suggestion Thursday, Zelinsky told Cooper that the threat \u201cis breathtaking.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt is a not-so-subtle threat along the lines of, \u2018My, what a nice Kennedy Center you have here \u2014 a shame if something were to happen to it,\u2019\u201d he told Cooper.\n <\/p>\n
\n During its vote earlier this month, the center\u2019s board also approved a plan to close its doors for two years to undertake extensive renovations. That decision, too, is likely to face more court challenges.\n <\/p>\n
\n Speaking on CNN\u2019s \u201cThe Arena with Kasie Hunt,\u201d Beatty said Trump and the Kennedy Center board with his allies can\u2019t be trusted.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI don\u2019t trust (Trump). This is the same president that told us we were going to get a remodeled, renovated ballroom, and he demolished the entire East Wing, the Rose Garden, over budget and unfinished,\u201d Beatty said.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI can\u2019t predict what this president would do because he has been so unpredictable,\u201d she added. \u201cBut what we know we can count on, he will do something that is very unreasonable and that something that doesn\u2019t make sense. And that\u2019s why we continue to fight.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n CNN\u2019s Logan Schiciano contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n
\n This story has been updated with additional details.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kennedy Center board told a federal judge Thursday it will not attempt to add President Donald Trump\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[146],"tags":[535],"class_list":["post-217730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-john-roberts","tag-john-roberts"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117226096752653655","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}