Judge Orders Trump-Kennedy Name Removed, Maria Bartiromo Named
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the so-called Trump-Kennedy Center must drop Donald Trump's name unless Congress approves it, and the order gave Trump two weeks to remove references to the Trump Kennedy Center. The ruling also stalled the center’s planned two-year renovation. Maria Bartiromo is among the board members named in the dispute.
Christopher Cooper Ruling
Cooper said federal lawmakers, not the center’s board, must decide when the name changes. That left Trump facing a deadline to strip the name from the project he has been promoting as chair of the Kennedy Center.
The judge’s ruling reached beyond the naming fight. By requiring congressional approval, it blocked the board from acting on its own and placed the renovation project under a new legal limit before the work could move forward.
Trump Response After Friday
Trump said after the ruling on Friday that Cooper should be “ashamed.” On Saturday, he posted a 722-word screed on Truth Social and attacked Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress, calling her “an anti-Trump hater.”
Trump also called Jeffress “a Radical Left Democrat” and said she worked behind the scenes for the Jan. 6 committee and currently represents former President Joe Biden. He wrote that Cooper was blocking him from saving the center from “collapse” and added that “people shouldn’t be allowed to go into that building until this is fixed.”
Maria Bartiromo On Board
Trump said “a large Board of some of the most distinguished people in the Country voted unanimously to put the name up.” He also wrote, “I didn’t do it, the Board did because they thought it would be good for this dying Institution.”
Among the board members named in the article are Maria Bartiromo, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and second lady Usha Vance. The board’s role is now narrowed by Cooper’s order, which leaves no room for a unilateral name change while the congressional approval question stands.
Congress And The Center
The Kennedy Center was created by Congress to honor the late President John F. Kennedy. Cooper ruled that it should be up to federal lawmakers to decide when, if ever, the center’s name should be changed.
Trump said, “The Kennedy Center will soon be closed, probably never to open again.” The order now forces the project back to Congress for any name change, and Trump’s two-week deadline puts the board’s next move on a short fuse.
