Kathrine Frich
Trump’s legal team tried to argue that the venue would suffer a massive financial blow.
Putting your name on a famous landmark is a powerful public statement.
Taking it down usually triggers a massive fight. One highly visible dispute over a Washington monument has just hit a major legal roadblock.
A legal defeat
A federal appeals court has rejected an emergency request from Donald Trump. He desperately wanted to stop construction crews from erasing his personal brand from the Kennedy Center.
According to NPR, the court ruled on Wednesday that the process can officially continue.
The physical sign has been hidden behind scaffolding and heavy tarps since the middle of June. The lettering is already completely gone, according to a recent legal filing from the executive director of the arts venue.
The courtroom battle
Three judges reviewed the president’s claim that stripping his name would cause permanent damage. They decided that he failed to prove his case.
The original lawsuit comes from Ohio representative Joyce Beatty. She sued both Trump and the facility board over the highly controversial rebranding effort.
Beatty sent a written statement to NPR following the recent court victory, celebrating the legal milestone.
“Today’s ruling again affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful. His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people,” she stated.
Missing the proof
She finished her message with a clear demand. “Now it is time for the Trump administration to accept this, comply with the law, and take the tarps down,” she added.
Trump’s legal team tried to argue that the venue would suffer a massive financial blow. Losing his powerful brand, they claimed, would cause future fundraising efforts to completely collapse.
The appeals judges dismissed that argument completely. They noted a total lack of hard evidence to support those dire financial warnings.
According to NPR, the court wrote that the legal team offered nothing but unsupported claims from facility manager Matt Floca. The judges pointed out that freezing the removal would not save any money, because the letters are already down.
A quiet calendar
The presiding judge in the overall case has now ordered a full operational report by the end of the month. Judge Christopher R. Cooper wants to know exactly what the venue is currently doing.
Right now, the schedule looks remarkably bare. The iconic building used to host more than two thousand events every single year.
Today, the official calendar only lists a handful of outdoor movie nights, a few workshops, and five free concerts.
Sources: NPR
