President Donald Trump is facing heavy criticism after his administration said in a new court filing that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts "will be required to be taken down" if Trump's name isn't allowed to be added along with his other desired renovations for the building.
The Kennedy Centerâs board of trustees voted Thursday to add Trumpâs name to the building again, this time with a qualification: the proposed inscription would read, âThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.â
The wording would be used only if a renovation fundraising campaign reaches $100 million in donations. The Kennedy Centerâs plaza would also be renamed in Trumpâs honor. The center has said it will not attempt to put Trumpâs name back on the buildingâs facade before September 8, giving the courts time to consider the ongoing legal challenge.
The vote immediately drew another legal challenge. Ohio Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty asked a federal court to block the plan, arguing that the centerâs board does not have the authority to alter the federally established name.
The Justice Department responded Monday by warning that without the proposed renovations, the Kennedy Center could deteriorate to the point that it would have to be demolished.
In defending the effort to recognize Trump for his role in the renovations, DOJ attorney Brantley T. Mayers argued that the renaming was intended to âhonor the work [Trump] is doing to save the Kennedy Center," adding:
âWithout those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site.â
The outrage was palpable.
The Trump administration sparked anger earlier this summer after a DOJ attorney claimed that the government could tear down the Statue of Liberty and nobody could do anything about it.
The exchange occurred during an appeals court hearing over whether construction could continue on Trump's planned White House ballroom. Arguing on behalf of the administration, U.S. Attorney Yaakov Roth contended that the National Trust for Historic Preservationâthe group seeking to halt the projectâlacks legal standing to challenge the construction.
Roth told the court that no party has the right to stop the project now that demolition has begun and suggested opponents should have acted before work commenced. Judge Patricia Millett pushed back by asking whether that reasoning would apply even when individuals have a personal or historic connection to a site.
Roth replied that it would and said "I think thatâs right, yes" when asked if the government could hypothetically demolish the Statue of Liberty against public opposition.
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U.S. Mint
