A vote has attached President Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center — again.
The Kennedy Center board voted Thursday to put the president’s name on the performing arts center’s building, according to Rep. Joyce Beatty, Ohio Democrat and an ex officio board member.
The decision was reportedly not intended as an official renaming, which Ms. Beatty disputed, calling it “a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling.”
She vowed in her statement to “continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”
A judge had blocked an earlier effort in May to rename the facility the Trump-Kennedy Center and the physical lettering of Mr. Trump’s name reflecting that voided change was removed from the facade in June.
Thursday’s naming vote came after the board voted to reapprove a two-year closure of its main building for a $257 million renovation project.
That created an opportunity for the board to “honor the President’s contribution with an inscribed recognition on the building.”
According to multiple reports, “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” will be inscribed beneath the venue’s existing main sign, “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The renewed vote aims to address a previous federal court block by satisfying legal requirements after a judge deemed an earlier March vote “ill-informed.”
Beyond the facade inscription, the board also voted to rename the physical grounds outside the building “the President Donald J. Trump Plaza,” according to Ms. Beatty’s legal team.
It marks a second, separate naming action taken at the same meeting, distinct from the inscription added beneath the Kennedy Center’s main sign.
The Kennedy Center has not publicly confirmed the plaza vote, and it is unclear what physical or legal steps would be required to implement it.
During his second term, Mr. Trump has reshaped the Kennedy Center by installing himself as chairman, prompting a legal battle over the building’s branding and the planned two-year venue closure.
This forms part of a wider pattern of physical transformations in the nation’s capital that includes White House grounds alterations and proposals for monumental architecture.
Projects have altered the Rose Garden lawn and South Lawn elements of the White House, including a new White House East Wing ballroom structure.
Renderings and reviews have also circulated for large-scale commemorative structures, such as a triumphal arch near the Memorial Bridge.
The president’s take on the initiative is to fix aging infrastructure and beautify public spaces.
But opponents and legal groups argue that many of the changes bypass historic preservation laws, lack required congressional approval and politicize national cultural memorials.
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