Workers removed Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center's exterior in the early morning hours Saturday, completing a court-ordered erasure that the former president had fought to block until the final hours.
The crew arrived after midnight, erecting scaffolding and draping it with tarps to shield the work from public view. By 3am, laborers in hard hats were removing the letters spelling "The Donald J Trump and" from the Washington performing arts venue's facade. Despite the predawn timing, a crowd of more than 100 gathered outside to watch the restoration, chanting "Take it down" as the signage came down.
The removal came hours after a federal judge rejected Trump's last-minute emergency appeal to block it. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ruled the name addition was illegal, ordering it removed by Friday at 11:59pm. The deadline passed, triggering the overnight work.
Trump's name had been added to the building just four months earlier after his newly appointed board of trustees voted unanimously to rename the venue in December. The performing arts center, which Congress designated as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964 and opened in 1971, reverted to its original name: The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The legal battle accelerated in the final 36 hours. Cooper rejected Trump's lawyers' emergency appeal Friday at 1pm, finding no likelihood they would win on appeal or that the center would suffer "irreparable harm." The Department of Justice appealed that decision at 3:46pm, but a higher court denied the request shortly after 7pm.
Late Friday, the DOJ requested a 12-hour extension, citing thunderstorms and worker safety concerns. The request was denied. Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the original legal challenge as an ex-officio board member, called the extension request "inexcusable" and part of a pattern of non-compliance.
Cooper's 94-page ruling had been straightforward on the central legal question: "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it." The judge also blocked a Trump demand to close the center for two years of renovations set to begin in July.
Trump responded to the court's initial ruling by announcing he was relinquishing control of the venue, which he had seized in February by removing Biden-appointed trustees and handpicking replacements for himself as chair. The Kennedy Center had already removed his name from its website and was sending ticket offers listing only "the Kennedy Center" before the overnight removal.
Author James Rodriguez: "The speed with which this was executed and the crowd that showed up to watch tells you how polarized this whole episode became, and how much the courts' final word actually mattered to people watching from the street."
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