Topline

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied on Wednesday the Kennedy Center’s request to halt the removal of Trump’s name from the venue during an appeal because it failed to show how it would be “irreparably injured” without the Trump branding.

A tarp still blocks the sign outside the Kennedy Center, which now lacks President Donald Trump’s name following a court order to remove it. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts

In its request for a stay, the Kennedy Center argued it stands to lose “hundreds of millions” of dollars in donations, claiming some donors were only willing to contribute because of the Trump name and that its bylaws will require donations be returned if Trump’s name is removed.

The appeals court said Wednesday the center failed to provide “any specific facts or evidence” it would be financially harmed by removing Trump’s name, and it cited a district court’s finding that there is “no proof that current or future donations hinge on President Trump’s name being on the building.”

The appeals court said the Kennedy Center’s argument that donations must be returned was not brought up earlier, and any arguments “raised for the first time on appeal are forfeited, absent ‘exceptional circumstances.’”

Trump’s name was removed from the Kennedy Center to comply with a district court order in the early hours of June 13, but a tarp has stood in front of the venue’s sign since then, blocking where his name once was.

Why Did The Kennedy Center Have To Remove Trump’s Name?

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May the Kennedy Center must drop the Trump branding because the venue’s board of directors changed its name without securing the necessary congressional approval. The center’s founding law delegates the ability to name it to Congress, and Cooper wrote in his ruling the law “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy.” Cooper also temporarily blocked the center from closing for two years of renovations, which was previously slated to begin in July.

Why Are Tarps Still Standing At The Kennedy Center?

Though Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center, visitors haven’t been able to see the proof for themselves because of the tarps that have stood for nearly a month outside the building. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi previously told the Washington Post the tarps are up so workers can repair the building’s marble facade, but the center has not provided any information about when they will come down. In late June, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to explain the “purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding” by the end of July, “to the extent they remain at that time.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who filed the lawsuit challenging the addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, said in a previous court filing the tarps remain up in “petulant defiance” of the court’s order, and to “massage broken egos.”

key background

Early in his second term, Trump took aim at the Kennedy Center over what he called “woke” programming and purged its board of directors, filling it with allies who appointed Trump chair of the center. Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center sparked pushback from some artists, prompting a wave of cancellations. In December, the board voted to add Trump’s name to the venue, which began branding itself as the “Trump Kennedy Center.”

further reading

Kennedy Center Claims It Will Lose ‘Hundreds Of Millions’ In Donations After Removing Trump Name (Forbes)