The Kennedy Center board is moving once again to put President Donald Trump’s name on the side of the performing arts center — defying court orders.
The Trump-loyal board voted Thursday to inscribe “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” beneath the venue’s main signage — a workaround to a federal law banning new memorials or plaques at the center, The New York Times reported. The move came shortly after the board also voted to move forward with shuttering the main building for two years of renovations, a plan Trump first floated in February, calling the historic venue “tired, broken and dilapidated.”
“The center desires to recognize and honor President Trump’s existential and unprecedented contributions to the survival of the center by all legal means,” the resolution states.
Both moves now face fresh scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who already blocked an earlier closure attempt after finding the board’s original vote “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.” Cooper previously ruled that only Congress has the authority to rename the institution, forcing the center to remove Trump’s name from the building in June, though it’s currently appealing that decision.
The new purported loophole to put Trump’s name back on the building earned a swift reaction from political observers on social media.
“Insanity,” wrote former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
“My word: just think about how low his self-esteem is that he needs this so badly?” wrote former “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd. “Most human beings would have felt the shame of all this. I know this isn’t a new take. But it doesn’t make it any less sad or pathetic.”
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