WON’T GO AWAY

Kennedy Center Goons Launch Last-Ditch Bid to Avoid Trump’s Humiliation

Trump’s name is hanging by a thread on the Kennedy Center.

President Donald Trump is making a last-minute move to keep his name on the Kennedy Center.

The center’s board of Trumpy trustees voted on Thursday to seek a stay of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Casey Cooper that the president’s name be removed from the building by Friday, and to appeal the decision that the renaming was illegal, according to The Washington Post.

Hours later, Justice Department lawyers representing the center filed a notice of appeal and a motion to stay, seeking to block the removal of Trump’s name. To succeed, they must show they are likely to win on appeal and that removing the name would cause the center “irreparable harm.”

Judge Cooper’s decision, issued on May 29, was a humiliating blow for the 79-year-old president.

In his 93-page opinion, Cooper said, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” He also said the Trump-allied board made its decision based on an “insufficient, one-sided presentation of information,” and ordered that the center not be closed by July 5, as the president had planned, and that Trump’s name be removed from its exterior, along with any other references to it.

ERASE ME

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Trump, who was elected chair of the center by his handpicked board one month into his second term, responded to the decision in a 582-word Truth Social post, attacking the judge and claiming he wants to transfer control of the institution to Congress.

“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” he wrote.

HELP WANTED

Trump Threat to Sabotage Kennedy Center Sparks Scramble

Sarah Ewall-Wice

According to a source who spoke with CNN, despite his claims, Trump attended Thursday’s board meeting, dialing in from the Oval Office via Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s iPhone, and spent part of the session attacking Cooper and his wife, Amy Jeffress, who previously served as Joe Biden’s personal lawyer.

The board also discussed—and passed—a resolution praising Trump’s “major contributions,” his “profound dedication,” and his “unprecedented … commitment to uphold this cherished American institution,” according to a copy of the resolution reviewed by CNN.

The source likened the meeting to an episode of the political satire Veep.

BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Kennedy Center Judge’s Very Subtle Trump Troll Revealed

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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has already removed Trump’s name from its website and YouTube channel, and lawyers for the center have informed employees that they “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.’”

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However, as of Friday, Trump’s name, which he slapped onto the building in December without congressional approval, remains on the exterior. Its removal would depend on the outcome of the motion to stay—if the request is denied, the court order requiring it to come down would proceed.

Trump’s involvement in the center led to declining ticket sales, widespread artist cancellations, and the departure of the National Symphony Orchestra’s executive director.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Kennedy Center and the White House for comment.

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