{"id":153466,"date":"2026-06-01T13:38:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/01\/booted-from-kennedy-center-trump-stomps-off-in-a-rage\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T13:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:38:53","slug":"booted-from-kennedy-center-trump-stomps-off-in-a-rage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/01\/booted-from-kennedy-center-trump-stomps-off-in-a-rage\/","title":{"rendered":"Booted From Kennedy Center, Trump Stomps Off In A Rage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, a federal judge in DC ordered Donald Trump to take John F. Kennedy\u2019s name out of his filthy mouth. <em>More or less<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In a meticulous, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.50.0_4.pdf\">94-page order<\/a>, Judge Christopher Cooper found that the toadies Trump installed on the Kennedy Center Board might have the legal right to rubber stamp a plan to shut down the storied arts center for two years and convert into a Vegas-style emporium, but they didn\u2019t have the smarts to do it properly. And they certainly never had the power to rename the place after Trump himself.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, the court ruled that the president lied about the proposed renovation, as did his cronies.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally Trump has responded with his normal gravitas, dramatically washing his hands of the entire project and personally attacking Judge Cooper and his wife \u2014 all of which will be Exhibit A should the government make good on its threat to appeal.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Come back, Camelot!<\/h2>\n<p>In 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Cultural Center Act to create a center for the arts in the nation\u2019s capital. At first, fundraising was sluggish. But after President Kennedy\u2019s assassination, Congress re-designated the project in 1964 as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The \u201cliving memorial\u201d to the slain president drew private donations and public funds, and in 1971 it opened with a performance of the Mass by Leonard Bernstein, the quintessentially American composer.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, who prefers \u201cCats\u201d to Callas, has a testy relationship with the performing arts. And <em>vice versa<\/em>! During his campaigns, popular musicians routinely sued to block him playing their songs at his MAGA rallies. But during his first term, Trump largely left the nation\u2019s important cultural institutions alone. This time around, the culture warriors at Project 2025 and the America First Policy Institute were ready to wreak havoc on these \u201cliberal\u201d bastions on day one.<\/p>\n<p>Echoing Nazi claims about degenerate art, Trump announced that he was firing the board of the Kennedy Center and appointing \u201can amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"944\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-5.31.08-PM.png?resize=944%2C682&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184908\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kennedy-center.org\/about-us\/leadership\/trustees\/\">new board<\/a> included Pam Bondi, Florida lobbyist Bryan Ballard, Lee Greenwood, Laura Ingraham, and Dan Scavino, the guy who writes Trump\u2019s tweets. Ric Grenell, a figure from the first Trump administration who was too toxic to be let back into the White House(!), was installed as executive director.<\/p>\n<p>The fallout from this MAGA-fication was immediate.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A statement from Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yTLlrzFAHW\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/yTLlrzFAHW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HamiltonMusical\/status\/1897414367630540928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">March 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Everyone from Ren\u00e9e Fleming to Issa Rae <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/20\/nx-s1-5675192\/kennedy-center-canceled-performances\">canceled<\/a> scheduled performances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just made it political and caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties,\u201d Grenell sneered at banjo player B\u00e9la Fleck.<\/p>\n<p>This charm offensive failed to staunch the bleeding, although Grenell put on a game face. In September of 2025, he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.29.22_3.pdf\">bragged<\/a> about sellout crowds and high demand for Kennedy Center Honors tickets, promising that America250, the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebration, would be a show like none other. (Wait for it \u2026)<\/p>\n<p>Then in December, the board voted to rename the institution the \u201cTrump Kennedy Center.\u201d Signage went up the very next day, suggesting that the outcome was essentially a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>After which the bottom fell out. Ticket sales collapsed, immediately dropping 70 percent as compared to the prior three years, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/kennedy-center-donald-trump-d7a055c3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>. The Washington National Opera, the Center\u2019s resident company since 1971, announced it was severing the relationship. In fact, so many artists canceled that there was functionally no 2026 season left.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than face the humiliation of throwing a party and having no one show up, Trump announced on February 1 that the Kennedy Center would close for two years, \u201ctotally subject to Board approval,\u201d for \u201cConstruction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.\u201d The facility was already slated to undergo major renovations, but in phases so as not to interrupt programming. But citing \u201ca one year review that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants,\u201d Trump claimed that the project would be more efficient if they could do it all at once.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"506\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-6.24.51-PM-506x1024.png?resize=506%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184909\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Six weeks later, after Trump publicly described the board\u2019s approval as a \u201cminor detail\u201d because \u201cwe\u2019ve already announced it,\u201d the trustees voted to ratify the changes announced in the February 1 post.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fiduciary Representative<\/h2>\n<p>Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and an <em>ex officio<\/em> trustee of the Kennedy Center, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.12.0.pdf\">sued<\/a> to block the name change and the cancellation of the 2026 season. She argued that only Congress could alter the name of the institution, and that the March vote was so procedurally improper as to be illegal. She complained that she was locked out, thanks to a May 2025 bylaw amendment purporting to strip <em>ex officio<\/em> trustees of their right to vote. She says that the board went so far as to mute her mic at the Zoom meeting so that she couldn\u2019t comment on the changes. And she alleged that the board abdicated its fiduciary duty to consider the ramifications of abandoning the plan to renovate in stages.<\/p>\n<p>In the main, Judge Christopher Cooper <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.50.0_4.pdf\">agreed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepresentative Beatty is entitled to summary judgment on the renaming issue,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Kennedy Center\u2019s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board\u2019s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After a detailed disquisition on the law of trusts \u2014 common <em>and<\/em> DC \u2014\u00a0as well as the language of the \u201corganic statute,\u201d the court concluded that the board could not simply vote to disenfranchise <em>ex officio<\/em> trustees.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of closing the Center required a fact-based inquiry. As for Trump\u2019s claim of a year-long, expert study, Judge Cooper determined that \u201cthe evidence of any such review is nil.\u201d To the extent that any review took place, it was a mere paperwork perusal by Matthew Floca, the vice president in charge of facilities who took over as executive director in March after Grenell was eased out. After multiple conversations with Trump, Floca consulted competing proposals developed between 2020 and 2024 and decided that they really needed to shut down the Kennedy Center after all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no reports or other evidence in the record apart from Floca\u2019s own testimony to confirm the details of his \u2018extensive analysis,\u2019\u201d Judge Cooper noted dryly, adding that \u201cno evidence in the record substantiates\u201d Floca\u2019s claim that he came to this conclusion months before Trump posted it.<\/p>\n<p>Floca provided the board with a few pages of cursory analysis, focused solely on the practicalities of construction. He admitted that he never considered the \u201cprogrammatic\u201d aspects, such as the impact on donors, loss of ticket revenue, diminished goodwill in the community, and damage to relationships with artists like the Washington Opera. And because Floca never took into account any of these intangibles, <em>neither did the board<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Cooper wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As stewards of property held in trust for the American people, Board members must go about fulfilling these duties consistent with common-law standards of prudence. The preliminary factual record before the Court reveals that, in ratifying President Trump\u2019s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging the full range of its responsibilities to the Center. More specifically, the Board based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He also made time to mock the piss-poor lawyering by the DOJ. The government actually argued that, if Rep. Beatty had an affirmative duty to sue her fellow trustees, the mere fact of filing a complaint fulfilled it, and that should be the end of the matter. Judge Cooper was clearly offended by this ridiculous suggestion, scoffing that \u201cPlaying courthouse \u2018ding dong ditch\u2019 can hardly be said to satisfy these legal obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court issued a preliminary injunction on canceling the season, since the board \u2014 which has a supermajority of Trump appointees, even counting the <em>ex officio<\/em> members \u2014\u00a0could theoretically go back and fulfill their fiduciary obligations by conducting a prudent inquiry, and then decide to do the same thing. But he granted summary judgment on the issue of the name and Beatty\u2019s right to vote on the board.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Endless screaming<\/h2>\n<p>As his habit, Trump responded by throwing a multi-day tantrum. He raged at \u201ca Barack Hussein Obama Judge named Christopher Cooper\u201d and his wife, Amy Jeffress, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Hecker, Fink, which represents Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Joe Biden and previously represented E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t be allowed to go into that Building until this is fixed, and yet the Trump Hating Judge wants to keep it open because his wife probably told him to do so!\u201d he screeched, falsely insisting that the Kennedy Center is \u201cin a potential state of collapse, rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Somehow this all goes back to the Supreme Court where \u201cour Country lost the TARIFF Case, and is forced to pay back 149 Billion Dollars in money received from people who hate everything we stand for \u2026 and that is probably why our Country will lose the Birthright Citizenship Case (No other Country in the World has this \u2014 It is totally unaffordable!), because our Court System is RIGGED, no different than our Political System is RIGGED, and the people of our Country know it, and that is why I got overwhelmingly elected President, in Record Numbers, and will FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president concluded by announcing that he\u2019s taking his ball and going home.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight. 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 \u201cNEVER NEVER LAND.\u201d There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that\u2019s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country. I have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>What does the Department of Commerce have to do with the Kennedy Center?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00af_(\u30c4)_\/\u00af<\/p>\n<p>On CNN, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum \u2014 who actually does deal with the Kennedy Center, through the National Park Service \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/show\/sotu\/date\/2026-05-31\/segment\/01\">suggested<\/a> that the case might be appealed to the DC Circuit.<\/p>\n<p>And meanwhile, Trump is running the same play on America250. With virtually every artist but Vanilla Ice pulling out, Trump first mused about \u201cbringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate \u2018Artists.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When slapping his name on the wall failed to do the trick, he once again threatened to cancel the whole shebang. Somehow this, too, is all Judge Cooper\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"857\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-8.22.52-PM-857x1024.png?resize=857%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184910\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Happy Anniversary, America. <em>Or something<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<em><strong>You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153.jpg?resize=300%2C153&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1163974\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/06\/booted-from-kennedy-center-trump-stomps-off-in-a-rage\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Booted From Kennedy Center, Trump Stomps Off In A Rage<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268017618-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"post-single__featured-image-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Jason Andrew for The Washington Post via Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Friday, a federal judge in DC ordered Donald Trump to take John F. Kennedy\u2019s name out of his filthy mouth. <em>More or less<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In a meticulous, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.50.0_4.pdf\">94-page order<\/a>, Judge Christopher Cooper found that the toadies Trump installed on the Kennedy Center Board might have the legal right to rubber stamp a plan to shut down the storied arts center for two years and convert into a Vegas-style emporium, but they didn\u2019t have the smarts to do it properly. And they certainly never had the power to rename the place after Trump himself.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, the court ruled that the president lied about the proposed renovation, as did his cronies.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally Trump has responded with his normal gravitas, dramatically washing his hands of the entire project and personally attacking Judge Cooper and his wife \u2014 all of which will be Exhibit A should the government make good on its threat to appeal.<\/p>\n<p>In 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Cultural Center Act to create a center for the arts in the nation\u2019s capital. At first, fundraising was sluggish. But after President Kennedy\u2019s assassination, Congress re-designated the project in 1964 as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The \u201cliving memorial\u201d to the slain president drew private donations and public funds, and in 1971 it opened with a performance of the Mass by Leonard Bernstein, the quintessentially American composer.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, who prefers \u201cCats\u201d to Callas, has a testy relationship with the performing arts. And <em>vice versa<\/em>! During his campaigns, popular musicians routinely sued to block him playing their songs at his MAGA rallies. But during his first term, Trump largely left the nation\u2019s important cultural institutions alone. This time around, the culture warriors at Project 2025 and the America First Policy Institute were ready to wreak havoc on these \u201cliberal\u201d bastions on day one.<\/p>\n<p>Echoing Nazi claims about degenerate art, Trump announced that he was firing the board of the Kennedy Center and appointing \u201can amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"944\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-5.31.08-PM.png?resize=944%2C682&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184908\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kennedy-center.org\/about-us\/leadership\/trustees\/\">new board<\/a> included Pam Bondi, Florida lobbyist Bryan Ballard, Lee Greenwood, Laura Ingraham, and Dan Scavino, the guy who writes Trump\u2019s tweets. Ric Grenell, a figure from the first Trump administration who was too toxic to be let back into the White House(!), was installed as executive director.<\/p>\n<p>The fallout from this MAGA-fication was immediate.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone from Ren\u00e9e Fleming to Issa Rae <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/20\/nx-s1-5675192\/kennedy-center-canceled-performances\">canceled<\/a> scheduled performances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just made it political and caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties,\u201d Grenell sneered at banjo player B\u00e9la Fleck.<\/p>\n<p>This charm offensive failed to staunch the bleeding, although Grenell put on a game face. In September of 2025, he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.29.22_3.pdf\">bragged<\/a> about sellout crowds and high demand for Kennedy Center Honors tickets, promising that America250, the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebration, would be a show like none other. (Wait for it \u2026)<\/p>\n<p>Then in December, the board voted to rename the institution the \u201cTrump Kennedy Center.\u201d Signage went up the very next day, suggesting that the outcome was essentially a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>After which the bottom fell out. Ticket sales collapsed, immediately dropping 70 percent as compared to the prior three years, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/kennedy-center-donald-trump-d7a055c3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>. The Washington National Opera, the Center\u2019s resident company since 1971, announced it was severing the relationship. In fact, so many artists canceled that there was functionally no 2026 season left.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than face the humiliation of throwing a party and having no one show up, Trump announced on February 1 that the Kennedy Center would close for two years, \u201ctotally subject to Board approval,\u201d for \u201cConstruction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.\u201d The facility was already slated to undergo major renovations, but in phases so as not to interrupt programming. But citing \u201ca one year review that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants,\u201d Trump claimed that the project would be more efficient if they could do it all at once.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"506\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-6.24.51-PM-506x1024.png?resize=506%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184909\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Six weeks later, after Trump publicly described the board\u2019s approval as a \u201cminor detail\u201d because \u201cwe\u2019ve already announced it,\u201d the trustees voted to ratify the changes announced in the February 1 post.<\/p>\n<p>Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and an <em>ex officio<\/em> trustee of the Kennedy Center, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.12.0.pdf\">sued<\/a> to block the name change and the cancellation of the 2026 season. She argued that only Congress could alter the name of the institution, and that the March vote was so procedurally improper as to be illegal. She complained that she was locked out, thanks to a May 2025 bylaw amendment purporting to strip <em>ex officio<\/em> trustees of their right to vote. She says that the board went so far as to mute her mic at the Zoom meeting so that she couldn\u2019t comment on the changes. And she alleged that the board abdicated its fiduciary duty to consider the ramifications of abandoning the plan to renovate in stages.<\/p>\n<p>In the main, Judge Christopher Cooper <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287972.50.0_4.pdf\">agreed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepresentative Beatty is entitled to summary judgment on the renaming issue,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Kennedy Center\u2019s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board\u2019s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After a detailed disquisition on the law of trusts \u2014 common <em>and<\/em> DC \u2014\u00a0as well as the language of the \u201corganic statute,\u201d the court concluded that the board could not simply vote to disenfranchise <em>ex officio<\/em> trustees.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of closing the Center required a fact-based inquiry. As for Trump\u2019s claim of a year-long, expert study, Judge Cooper determined that \u201cthe evidence of any such review is nil.\u201d To the extent that any review took place, it was a mere paperwork perusal by Matthew Floca, the vice president in charge of facilities who took over as executive director in March after Grenell was eased out. After multiple conversations with Trump, Floca consulted competing proposals developed between 2020 and 2024 and decided that they really needed to shut down the Kennedy Center after all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no reports or other evidence in the record apart from Floca\u2019s own testimony to confirm the details of his \u2018extensive analysis,\u2019\u201d Judge Cooper noted dryly, adding that \u201cno evidence in the record substantiates\u201d Floca\u2019s claim that he came to this conclusion months before Trump posted it.<\/p>\n<p>Floca provided the board with a few pages of cursory analysis, focused solely on the practicalities of construction. He admitted that he never considered the \u201cprogrammatic\u201d aspects, such as the impact on donors, loss of ticket revenue, diminished goodwill in the community, and damage to relationships with artists like the Washington Opera. And because Floca never took into account any of these intangibles, <em>neither did the board<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Cooper wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As stewards of property held in trust for the American people, Board members must go about fulfilling these duties consistent with common-law standards of prudence. The preliminary factual record before the Court reveals that, in ratifying President Trump\u2019s closure announcement, the Board was derelict in discharging the full range of its responsibilities to the Center. More specifically, the Board based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He also made time to mock the piss-poor lawyering by the DOJ. The government actually argued that, if Rep. Beatty had an affirmative duty to sue her fellow trustees, the mere fact of filing a complaint fulfilled it, and that should be the end of the matter. Judge Cooper was clearly offended by this ridiculous suggestion, scoffing that \u201cPlaying courthouse \u2018ding dong ditch\u2019 can hardly be said to satisfy these legal obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court issued a preliminary injunction on canceling the season, since the board \u2014 which has a supermajority of Trump appointees, even counting the <em>ex officio<\/em> members \u2014\u00a0could theoretically go back and fulfill their fiduciary obligations by conducting a prudent inquiry, and then decide to do the same thing. But he granted summary judgment on the issue of the name and Beatty\u2019s right to vote on the board.<\/p>\n<p>As his habit, Trump responded by throwing a multi-day tantrum. He raged at \u201ca Barack Hussein Obama Judge named Christopher Cooper\u201d and his wife, Amy Jeffress, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Hecker, Fink, which represents Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Joe Biden and previously represented E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t be allowed to go into that Building until this is fixed, and yet the Trump Hating Judge wants to keep it open because his wife probably told him to do so!\u201d he screeched, falsely insisting that the Kennedy Center is \u201cin a potential state of collapse, rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Somehow this all goes back to the Supreme Court where \u201cour Country lost the TARIFF Case, and is forced to pay back 149 Billion Dollars in money received from people who hate everything we stand for \u2026 and that is probably why our Country will lose the Birthright Citizenship Case (No other Country in the World has this \u2014 It is totally unaffordable!), because our Court System is RIGGED, no different than our Political System is RIGGED, and the people of our Country know it, and that is why I got overwhelmingly elected President, in Record Numbers, and will FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president concluded by announcing that he\u2019s taking his ball and going home.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight. 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 \u201cNEVER NEVER LAND.\u201d There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that\u2019s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country. I have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>What does the Department of Commerce have to do with the Kennedy Center?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00af_(\u30c4)_\/\u00af<\/p>\n<p>On CNN, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum \u2014 who actually does deal with the Kennedy Center, through the National Park Service \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/show\/sotu\/date\/2026-05-31\/segment\/01\">suggested<\/a> that the case might be appealed to the DC Circuit.<\/p>\n<p>And meanwhile, Trump is running the same play on America250. With virtually every artist but Vanilla Ice pulling out, Trump first mused about \u201cbringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate \u2018Artists.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When slapping his name on the wall failed to do the trick, he once again threatened to cancel the whole shebang. Somehow this, too, is all Judge Cooper\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"857\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-31-at-8.22.52-PM-857x1024.png?resize=857%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1184910\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Happy Anniversary, America. <em>Or something<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<em><strong>You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153.jpg?resize=300%2C153&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1163974\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, a federal judge in DC ordered Donald Trump to take John F. Kennedy\u2019s name out of his filthy mouth. More or less. In a meticulous, 94-page order, Judge Christopher Cooper found that the toadies Trump installed on the Kennedy Center Board might have the legal right to rubber stamp a plan to shut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":153467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153-wE7QGz.jpg?fit=300%2C153&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}