Supporters of President Donald Trump tried to strong-arm the Kennedy Center into keeping Trump’s name on the building by making millions of dollars in funding conditional on the rebrand, according to allegations contained in a court brief filed Friday.
The new court brief was prepared by lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, according to The Washington Post.
The brief claims that the Kennedy Center’s leaders transferred $17.5 million in funding from The Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation to the institution on the condition that it be rebranded with Trump’s name, citing a Trump administration lawyer.
The naming demand put the center’s officials in a bind, according to internal messages quoted in the document, after a federal judge in May ruled that the venue cannot be renamed without congressional approval.
Kennedy Center officials warned that if the money was pulled, hundreds of employees would have to be furloughed. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick rejected a request to keep a portion of the money without renaming the iconic venue, the Post reported, citing the court document.
The Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation “did not exist until this spring,” according to The Atlantic, citing records filed with the District’s Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. The report notes the Center “amended the name of an existing nonprofit that had been called the Kennedy Center Foundation.”
Lawyers for Beatty, who serves on the Kennedy Center’s board, are attempting to overturn the decision to close down the venue.
Her lawyers argue that information was misrepresented to trustees to support the case for closing the center, and that Trump allies cited financial issues as one of the grounds for the decision—while simultaneously jeopardizing vital funding.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Kennedy Center for comment. The center did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
The Kennedy Center is at the heart of a long-running legal battle over Trump’s obsession with having his name on the building. It began last year, when Trump ousted most of the board and replaced them with loyalists who voted to rename the center “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
After the judge ordered Trump’s name removed, the board voted to shutter the center for two years for maintenance work starting in September.
Trump celebrated at the time but threatened the Kennedy Center’s future if his name was not added to the building.
“The closing will take place immediately; however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name. If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” Trump wrote.
Days later, the president was pictured on Air Force One appearing to review plans to demolish the venue.
