The Kennedy Center is preparing to remove Donald Trump‘s name from the facade and in other materials following a judge’s ruling last week.
Attorneys for the center laid out instructions for the removal of references to Trump in relation to its official name, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, according to a memo obtained by CBS News and The Atlantic.
A federal judge ruled last week that the board overstepped its authority in adding Trump’s name to the center, which Congress designated as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964. The judge, Christopher Cooper, wrote that only Congress had the the authority to do so, and he gave the center 14 days to switch the name back.
Per CBS News, the center’s general counsel stated that staff “must immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center.’”
When the board voted to add Trump’s name in December, it was added to the facade the next day and soon appeared on the center’s website and other materials.
In response to the judge’s ruling, Trump lashed out at the judge, but the center has yet to appeal the ruling. The president indicated that the center should be transferred to Congress.
Trump wrote that “based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
Cooper also ruled that the board failed to consider the full implication of its plans to close the center for two years, starting on July 7, for renovations. But the judge ruled that the board could ultimately decide to shutter the complex for such repairs, but had to do a more thorough review.
A spokesperson for the center did not immediately return a request for comment.