By Mike Scarcella
June 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday filed an appeal of a court order that required Trump’s name to be removed from the Kennedy Center and blocked the Republican leader’s bid to close the Washington performing arts venue for a two-year renovation.
The appeal to the Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenges a sweeping ruling against the administration in a lawsuit brought by Democratic U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board by virtue of her position in Congress.
The White House and Beatty’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled on May 29 that federal law “makes crystal clear” that Congress named the center for former Democratic President John F. Kennedy, “and only Congress can change it.” He ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building’s facade, its website and other materials.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform hours later that his administration would transfer control of the Kennedy Center to Congress.
“I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” Trump said, saying the building was in serious disrepair.
Trump said he directed the U.S. Commerce Department to “make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution” and give lawmakers responsibility over its operation, maintenance and management.
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the late president, who was slain in 1963. Its board voted in December to alter the center’s name to include Trump, who last year replaced several board members and appointed himself a trustee.
Beatty sued the Trump administration in December, calling the renaming of the building “a flagrant violation of the rule of law” that “flies in the face of our constitutional order.”
In February, Trump announced the two-year closure of the Kennedy Center without any prior warning.
Trump’s plan to renovate the Kennedy Center is part of a broader push by the Republican leader to reshape Washington’s monumental core. He also intends to erect a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington, D.C.; Additional reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Christopher Cushing)