WASHINGTON — The board of the Kennedy Center voted on Tuesday to close over financial issues and a dispute over putting President Donald Trump’s name on the iconic performing arts venue, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick participated in the board meeting, according to one of the people. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a private meeting.
Prior to Tuesday's board meeting, a federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding Trump's name to the structure or grounds, saying it would violate an earlier ruling that his name was illegally added to the building.
Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that, “Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing.”
After the board added Trump's name above Kennedy's, Cooper ruled in May that only Congress can approve changes to the Kennedy Center’s name. The board responded by erecting an elevated tarp which obscures Trump’s name and most of Kennedy’s.
The board had recently floated multiple options for getting Trump's name on the grounds, including inscriptions like "Renovation and endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund." Another option: "With Gratitude for Support from President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund."
The board's proposal flatly states that “without such appropriate recognition” it’s unlikely that Trump will financially support what the board says are desperately needed renovations.
Cooper, in his Tuesday ruling, tartly notes “the government plays word games.”
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