WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Justice Department attorneys told a federal court that the Kennedy Center could face demolition if a judge blocks the Trump-appointed board’s renewed effort to inscribe Donald Trump’s name on the building and rename the plaza in front of it after him.
In a filing this week, DOJ attorney Brantley T. Mayers called the Kennedy Center “decrepit” and “fundamentally unsafe,” and argued that without recognizing Trump personally, “donors will flee, financial contributions will dry up, and structural rehabilitation will stop.” This follows an earlier ruling that found the board’s first attempt to put Trump’s name on the building unlawful and ordered it removed.
“Donald Trump would rather see a national memorial to a former president crumble than see it stand without his name on it,” said Lisa Gilbert, Not Above the Law co-chair. “That is extortion, carried out by Todd Blanche’s Justice Department on Trump’s behalf, to bully a public institution into becoming a monument to Trump’s ego. A judge already ruled it unlawful to put Trump’s name on this building, and instead of accepting that ruling, his administration is now threatening demolition as leverage. No one, including the President of the United States, gets to hold a national memorial hostage for his own vanity.”
The Not Above the Law coalition is co-chaired by Lisa Gilbert, Co-President of Public Citizen; Praveen Fernandes, Vice President of the Constitutional Accountability Center; Kelsey Herbert, Campaign Director at MoveOn; and Brett Edkins, Managing Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Stand Up America.
For questions about our work to hold Trump accountable or to request an interview with a Not Above the Law coalition leader, please email press@focalpointstrategygroup.com.