Trump threatens to cut funding for Kennedy Centre if it isn't named after him
Donald Trump has threatened to strip all funding from a Washington landmark if his name is taken off the building.
Trump made the threat in a last-minute appeal to stop what was until recently called The Kennedy Centre from reverting to its original name.
Workers prepare to take Donald Trump's name off the Kennedy Centre. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
In December, the board of trustees appointed by the president voted to rename it The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Centre for the Performing Arts.
Trump had fired the previous board and appointed himself chairman.
Late last month, a judge ruled Donald Trump’s name must be taken from the building by today.
But a filing from the president stated the foundation that bankrolls the centre had conditioned the funding on the building being named after him.
“Without the name, ‘Trump’ on the building, our fundraising will not only come to a halt, but any and all monies raised or committed would be obligated to be returned, refunded, or terminated,” the filing read.
“In the event the centre should at any time remove the name of President Donald J. Trump from its filings, marketing, branding, facade, or any other affiliated location, the corporation shall recover from the centre the total of all gifts, donations, and contributions made to the centre by or on behalf of the corporation.”
US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office this week. AP
Trump’s filing argued that donors had only given money to the foundation because his name was on the building.
The judge had ruled in late May that the Kennedy Centre could not be renamed without congressional authorisation.
But the appellate court rejected the president’s last-minute bid.
Already scaffolding has been erected next to the facade of the building in preparation to remove the president’s name.
A crowd has gathered outside the arts institute to watch Trump’s name be removed.
Spectators waiting to watch Donald Trump's name be taken off the Kennedy Centre. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Meanwhile, a fund created to give taxpayer money to supporters of Donald Trump who had been prosecuted for breaking the law has been put on an indefinite hold.
Judge Leonie M Brinkema has barred the administration from setting up the $2.6 billion fund.
The administration had said they would not go forward with the fund after widespread criticism.
But Brinkema noted none of the administration’s statements had been made in a legally binding nature.
“We just don’t have the absolute certainty that this fund won’t rear its head in another form,” she said.
The judge said she would rescind her order if she got a written promise filed under penalty of perjury that the fund would not go ahead.
That promise would need to be signed by acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The fund was announced as part of a settlement deal Trump made with his own Justice Department after he sued the US tax office for $14 billion.
Trump made the deal with his own appointees when it appeared a judge was looking to dismiss the case.
The case was closed when the settlement was made, but the judge reopened it late last month to investigate whether the deal Trump made with his own administration was “premised on deception”.
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