KENNEDY CENTRE SHUTS AFTER JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP RENAMING BID

The board of the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC voted on Tuesday to close most of the venue for repairs, hours after a federal judge again blocked attempts to add President Donald Trump's name to the building. US District Judge Cooper — named as Christopher Cooper in some reports and Casey Cooper in others — ruled that a proposal to inscribe the phrase "restored and renovated by President Donald J Trump" beneath the centre's existing signage would breach an earlier order barring the board from renaming the building. "Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Centre without Congress's blessing," the judge said. Trump said his board voted "almost unanimously" to shut the venue immediately for emergency repairs. The board itself cited a financial crisis and urgent need for renovation, while Trump separately said the closure was for "safety reasons". The Justice Department has appealed the ruling.

Trump said $257 million in repair funding allocated by Congress would only be released if the renaming was permitted to go ahead, a condition courts have twice ruled cannot be met without congressional approval. In May, Cooper ruled that the centre had illegally added Trump's name to the building and ordered it removed; the institution complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding covering the spot where the name had appeared. Trump, who was named the centre's chairman last year by allies on its board, took part in Tuesday's virtual board meeting and said he had personally donated $17 million to an endowment supporting the institution. The meeting included exchanges between Trump and Ohio congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who has led opposition to memorialising the president at the centre. A partial ceiling collapse in the building's main hallway earlier this month had already intensified calls for renovation work. Other reports have said the centre could face bankruptcy or even demolition if funding for repairs is not secured.

The dispute has thrown into question the future of one of the United States' most prominent cultural institutions, a venue where presidents, lawmakers and public figures have gathered for decades to mark American arts and culture. Construction of the centre began in 1965. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that if the ruling "is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Centre will not take place." The Justice Department's appeal means the legal dispute is set to continue. It remains unclear when, or whether, the venue will reopen to the public.