Kennedy Center risks financial ruin without Trump’s name, Justice Department argues

Justice Department attorneys argued that if President Donald Trump’s name does not appear somewhere on the Kennedy Center, then the money from donors for renovations would shrivel up and the “decrepit, dilapidated” cultural center may be “required to be taken down.”

That came from a court filing late Monday on the long-running saga over whether the president’s name can be added to the cultural institution and venue meant to honor John F. Kennedy after his assassination. The original attempt to add “Donald J. Trump” on the building’s facade was halted by the court in May following a lawsuit from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center.

The center’s Trump-aligned board of trustees then voted again this month to get the president’s name back on the cultural institution in a different way: by appending “Renovated and Restored By President Donald J. Trump” under the title on the building’s facade. Another phrase, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund” would be a possible addition, as well as renaming the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center to honor the president.

In response, Beatty again asked the federal court to block those stylings, arguing that they were “clear violations of the Kennedy Center statute” that barred the board from making the center into a memorial to anyone else. A federal judge will hear arguments on that request on Thursday.

Justice Department attorneys replied in Monday’s filing with a grim picture of the state of the Kennedy Center: “a financially insolvent facility, housed in a decrepit, dilapidated, crumbling building” that “continues to race toward physical and financial ruin.”

Renovations were required, they argued, but “an order blocking the Board from appropriately recognizing President Trump will cause donors to flee, financial contributions to dry up, and structural rehabilitation to stop. There will simply not be the expertise or funding necessary to rebuild and renovate this decimated structure.”

If allowed to deteriorate further, they continued, the Kennedy Center “will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site.”

That could be an outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River, they said, adding that it would “fail to adequately honor President John F. Kennedy” but would be easier to build and maintain.

This latest attempt to add Trump’s name on and around the center was met with some incredulity from Beatty’s attorneys, who said it “is a transparent attempt to effectuate the renaming in another guise.”

“It’s déjà vu all over again,” they wrote. “Plaintiff and the Court should not need to play Defendants’ game of whack-a-mole.” They requested a final ruling to stop the renaming attempts “and put an end to this childish gambit.”

It’s not the first time the board of trustees has used the argument that fundraising could be impeded without Trump’s name on the building. A panel of judges in July said that the claim came without the support of “ specific facts or evidence.”

The Kennedy Center has fallen on harder times since Trump got more involved, with several artists canceling performances and attendance dropping.

This is one of several attempts by the presidential administration to put Trump’s stamp on the U.S. capital, including a plan for a 250-foot (76-meter) triumphal arch, and, as Trump called it, a “military complex slash ballroom ” at the White House.