Judge Rules Against Trump in Kennedy Center Name Change, Renovation

A federal judge ruled against adding President 👤Donald Trump’s name to theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a move that infuriated Trump.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, sided with ex officio board member Rep. Joyce Beatty(D-Ohio), who opposed the renovation project.

The building had been set to close for two years starting on July 5.

Trumpspoke out against the ruling Friday, stating that the judge should be “ashamed of himself.”

“Judge Cooper was given a presentation by leading Building and Construction Experts as to how structurally dangerous the Building is, with rotting beams, parking areas that are subject to collapse, and various other Life and Safety problems, in addition to the fact that it also needs a MAJOR renovation, from an aesthetic standpoint, but he was not ‘swayed,’ and said he wants the Building to, incredibly, remain open and, therefore, dangerous,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself!” Trump continued. “I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight.”

The president said he has ordered the Commerce Department to “make all necessary arrangements” to grant Congress authority over the institution’s upkeep.

Cooper cited Congress’s authority over any name changes to the Kennedy Center.