Workers are removing President Donald Trump’s name at the Kennedy Center, the morning after a federal judge ruled that the institution’s renaming was unlawful and must be stripped from the facade and official materials.
Earlier on Friday, a judge denied a last-minute request by the Kennedy Center to extend the court-ordered deadline for deinstallation.
By the evening, a crowd had gathered and cheered on workers as they set up scaffolding to begin removing the lettering that was installed after Trump ousted the institution’s board of trustees and packed the board with Trump allies last year.
Around 3 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, workers began adding a curtain that obstructed any view of the removal of Trump’s name. A livestream can still be viewed here.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The removal of the signage caps a legal battle that began last December when Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty (Ohio), an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, filed the lawsuit seeking to remove Trump’s name from the 55-year-old institution.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it” and that the memorial to John F. Kennedy, an assassinated president, must stay unchanged.
The disposal of the lettering, “The Donald J. Trump and” is a stinging defeat for the Trump administration, but vindication for many arts advocates, including some Kennedy family members who were furious at the rebranding.
The judge also blocked the two-year closure of the Kennedy Center due to renovations proposed by the Trump-installed board, but left open the possibility the board could revisit it through proper procedures, writing that the board “does not have leeway to disregard its obligations to present programming and maintain a presidential memorial site.”