By Ryan Patrick Jones and Jasper Ward
Aug 13 (Reuters) – The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Thursday to add an inscription bearing President Donald Trump’s name to the building’s exterior, according to Democratic U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, a move that could set up a clash with a federal judge who previously ordered his name removed from the facade.
“In its meeting today, the board voted to change the front of the building’s facade to read ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump,’ and renamed the physical site ‘the President Donald J. Trump Plaza,'” said Beatty, an ex officio member on the center’s board.
A second source with knowledge of the situation confirmed the decision.
The New York Times, citing a resolution, reported earlier on Thursday “that 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 board – dominated by Trump loyalists – also voted to close the Kennedy Center for two years, according to Beatty, who sued the Trump administration and the center over what she called an unlawful name change and the planned closure.
The Trump administration in December added Trump’s name to the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. But in May a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name, ruling that the iconic Washington venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.
A federal appeals court last month denied the administration’s bid to keep Trump’s name on the building while it pursues court action to restore it. Workers stripped Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center in June.
The Trump administration argued that removing Trump’s name would hurt fundraising and worsen the center’s finances. The appeals court said those claims were not supported by specific facts or evidence.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto and Jasper Ward and Bo Erickson in Washington, editing by Ross Colvin and Chizu Nomiyama )
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