A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Trump cannot tear down the Kennedy Center – at least without 30 days notice – just hours after Trump renewed his threat to demolish the arts center.
The developments were part of a flurry of legal movements and other activity this week that has left the center's future clouded in uncertainty.
The latest news comes after the center's board of directors voted to close it on Tuesday, saying its physical condition and finances are preventing the board from keeping it open. Court filings from both the board and its critics followed.
Then, Trump on Wednesday said the complex may be "ripped down" if his name does not appear on its main building.
"For the Trump administration, for me, to get involved, and to take on long term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition," the president said, responding to questions from reporters. "Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close, it will end up being ripped down."
Trump also said in that exchange that the Kennedy Center has lost "hundreds of millions" of dollars. He has not offered evidence to support that claim. In the same conversation, he described New York's vaunted Carnegie Hall as a similar "loser."
By Thursday afternoon, however, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the board cannot demolish the building or construct any new structure without 30 days advance notice.
The board's vote to close on Tuesday came shortly after Judge Cooper, overseeing a federal lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, ruled that the board could not put Trump's name on the front of the building.
Since that ruling earlier this week, Beatty requested an emergency hearing with Cooper to address the closure, arguing that it violates a previous order from the judge. Cooper denied that request Thursday, issuing his ruling for a 30-day notice instead.
Beatty submitted Trump's "ripped down" remarks to the court on Wednesday, along with photos taken from social media that purport to show the president on Air Force One, looking at a large placard that appears to read: "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED." The veracity of the images has not been established, but the pictures have been filed in federal court documents.
In his Thursday afternoon ruling, Cooper expressly instructed the Kennedy Center that it must "inform Plaintiffs and the Court if there is any change in the Board's plans that would constitute a reversal of the Center's position that the building will not be demolished and that no new structure will be constructed."
He instructed the Kennedy Center board to file a detailed status report by next Wednesday.
In other developments:
- A staff member at Washington Litigation Group, one of the law firms representing Beatty, swore in a court filing that she witnessed a forklift "run into and hit the pillars on the building" several times on Wednesday as construction crews erected gates around the Kennedy Center.
- In a sworn statement submitted to Cooper on Wednesday, the center's current executive director and chief operating officer, Matt Floca, said the building's current closure is "temporary" and is due to public safety risks.
Cooper is also overseeing a separate but related lawsuit filed last May by eight architecture and culture groups. In his ruling Thursday, Cooper said that the notification of any demolition or construction must be sent to this group as well as Beatty and the court.
After the events of the last several days, the eight organizations, among them The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, asked Cooper on Thursday to appoint a receiver, limited receiver, independent monitor or other neutral officer to protect the building and institution.
The groups argue that Trump and the rest of the Kennedy Center board are not meeting their responsibilities to take care of the arts institution – and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy – with which they have been entrusted.
In a statement sent to NPR Thursday, the groups said: "President Trump chose to make himself a Kennedy Center trustee, and the reconstituted Board elected him Chair. With those positions come legal and ethical responsibilities. … A trustee cannot sit still while the institution fails. Nor can a trustee withhold the exercise of fiduciary responsibilities to obtain a personal honor."
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