Weeks after workers pried his name from the Kennedy Center’s facade, Donald Trump lost another round in his fight to get it back. A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected the administration’s argument that the removal was damaging the arts institution’s finances.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit denied a request from the Trump administration to pause a lower court judge’s order in a lawsuit brought by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic representative and Kennedy Center board member. Trump’s name was removed from the Washington theater center’s facade and signage last month. US district judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal in May, and also blocked Trump’s plans to close the center for two years of renovations starting on 4 July.
This marks the second time the same appellate panel has declined to intervene on Trump’s behalf. The judges had earlier rejected an emergency “administrative” request to pause the removal ahead of the deadline Cooper had set in June.
The appeals court ruling was not on the merits of the case, and Trump’s appeal can continue.
The White House had no immediate comment. Representatives for Beatty did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In its appeal, the Trump administration said the removal of Trump’s name would harm fundraising efforts “and contribute to the financial decline of the Center”.
The unsigned appeals court order said the administration had not backed up that assertion “with any specific facts or evidence”.
The appeals court also said the administration was barred from asserting that a new entity called the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation will have to return money if the president’s name is not returned to the facade. The panel of judges included two appointed by former Democratic president Barack Obama, and a third appointed by Trump during his first term.
The two Obama appointees were identified as circuit judges Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins, while the Trump appointee was circuit judge Gregory Katsas. The panel was unanimous.
Although the lettering bearing Trump’s name has been removed from the building, scaffolding and tarp erected ahead of the works have remained in place for weeks, obscuring the facade. Cooper has since demanded that the Kennedy Center explain why the covering has not been taken down.
Since Trump took control of the Kennedy Center’s board, several artists have withdrawn from scheduled performances and ticket sales have fallen, according to reporting at the time of the renaming dispute.
