US President Donald Trump has threatened to leave the Kennedy Center closed without carrying out its planned renovation unless a court allows his name to be put back on the iconic Washington building.
The warning came Tuesday after the Kennedy Center’s board voted to immediately close its main building for what was supposed to be a two-year renovation.
But Trump says the renovation itself may now never happen.
“The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name,” Trump wrote.
He added that if the ruling goes against him and is not overturned by the Supreme Court, “the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”
Hours earlier, US District Judge Christopher Cooper had again blocked efforts to put Trump’s name on the building.
The Kennedy Center is legally a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, and Cooper ruled that its board cannot add another presidential memorial without approval from Congress.
Trump’s name had already been added to the center once before being removed in June following an earlier court order.
His allies then tried a different approach.
Instead of renaming the center, the board proposed putting an inscription below its existing name crediting Trump with having “renovated and restored” the building. It also wanted to rename the surrounding grounds the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
The judge rejected that too, accusing the board of using “linguistic gymnastics” to get around his earlier ruling.
