<p>Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made an appearance outside a courthouse on Thursday, presenting a proposal regarding the Kennedy Center's name ahead of a key hearing on its rebranding. Lutnick suggested that the building would retain its official name, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, while adding a credit to President Donald Trump for planned renovations, according to multiple videos taken outside Washington D.C.’s E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse.</p>
<p>“Underneath the name of the building, which will remain the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, ‘Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump,’” Lutnick stated to reporters.</p>
<p>The proposal is currently under review by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who previously ruled that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” The center’s board, chaired by Trump, later voted to add the new wording to the building’s facade and name the surrounding plaza after Trump.</p>
<p>During the hearing, attorney Nathaniel Zelinsky, representing Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), argued that the board was attempting to circumvent Cooper’s order. Beatty, a former Kennedy Center board member, has consistently opposed the addition of Trump’s name.</p>
<p>“They read your opinion and said, ‘Aha, here’s a way around it,’” Zelinsky argued, as reported by Meidas Touch reporter Scott MacFarlane. He accused the board of “slapping President Trump’s name back on” the building in defiance of the court.</p>
<p>A Kennedy Center attorney countered that “there is no renaming here,” explaining that the proposed inscription is merely recognition of Trump’s contributions to the building’s restoration.</p>
<p>Judge Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, interrupted attempts to discuss the center’s condition, stating it was a “non sequitur” and focused on whether his earlier order had been violated.</p>
<p>The Kennedy Center’s name has been the subject of a prolonged legal dispute. On December 18, the Trump-aligned board voted to rename the venue the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” Workers installed new lettering on its marble facade the following day, identifying it as the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”</p>
<p>Beatty filed a lawsuit on December 22, claiming the board lacked the authority to rename a memorial established by Congress. Cooper agreed on May 29, ruling that only Congress could change the center’s name and ordering the removal of Trump’s name from the facade, website, and official materials.</p>
<p>After the center attempted to pause the order unsuccessfully, crews removed the lettering overnight on June 12 and 13. The board reignited the dispute in August by voting to credit Trump for the renovations and to name the surrounding grounds President Donald J. Trump Plaza, prompting another emergency request from Beatty.</p>
<p>Outside the court on Wednesday, Lutnick described the facility as dangerous, citing concrete falling from the garage ceiling. He stated that renovations would take two years and cost approximately $257 million, while preserving the REACH, a recent campus expansion that earlier proposals had threatened to close.</p>
<p>The administration warned in a filing this week that the center could require demolition without its proposed construction plan. Justice Department lawyers also argued that excluding Trump’s name could deter donors, halt contributions, and jeopardize structural repairs.</p>
<p>Zelinsky referred to the demolition warning as “breathtaking” and “a threat.”</p>
<p>Outside the courthouse, Lutnick asserted that Trump was undertaking the project for the public benefit, claiming that only the president could raise the estimated $500 million needed for the broader renovation effort.</p>
<p>The new argument from the commerce secretary intensified the focus on the contentious issue of whether adding a renovation credit and renaming the plaza would effectively achieve what Cooper previously ruled the board lacked the authority to do under the law.</p>
<p>The hearing included an indefinite recess due to technical issues before resuming. Cooper was not expected to issue a definitive ruling on Thursday.</p>