Donald Trump rarely admits defeat, but he appears to be doing just that after a federal judge ordered the Kennedy Center to remove his name. In a lengthy Truth Social post on Friday, the president said he would “transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump added.
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Casey Cooper concluded that only Congress has the authority to change the Kennedy Center’s name.
While Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, a name-change bill would face a steep climb in the Senate, where legislation needs 60 votes to clear a filibuster. What’s more, Trump lacks a deep well of Senate allies needed to rally such legislation, especially in the wake of several recent endorsements of primary challengers against sitting Republican incumbents.
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Judge Cooper has given the Kennedy Center 14 days to remove all signage bearing Trump’s name and scrub references from its website. He also temporarily blocked the Kennedy Center from moving forward with its planned two-year closure for renovations beginning this summer, arguing that the Board’s decision was the result of an “ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision.”
The Center’s board has vowed to appeal the ruling.
