Judge rejects bid to halt removal of Trump name from Kennedy Center

A US federal judge has rejected an attempt to prevent the removal of Donald Trump's name from the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. US District Judge Christopher Cooper denied a request from the center's board and the Justice Department to stay his previous ruling, which ordered the name to be taken down.

In his initial ruling last month, Cooper declared the renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after Trump to be unlawful. He asserted that only Congress possesses the authority to alter the venue's official name. The judge gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump's name from the building's facade and associated materials.

Despite the judge's latest rejection, the board and the Justice Department have lodged a further appeal with a higher court. Workers had begun erecting scaffolding on the part of the building bearing Trump's name following the district court's decision, though it had not yet been removed. Earlier in the week, the Kennedy Center had already removed Trump's name from its website.

Judge Cooper also temporarily blocked Trump's demand to close the center for two years of renovations. Trump reacted angrily, stating he was relinquishing control of the venue, which he had taken over at the start of his second term by appointing himself chairman. The center's governing board, filled with Trump loyalists, had voted to rename the venue the "Trump Kennedy Center" last December, adding his name prominently to the facade. This move had led several artists to cancel scheduled performances.

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The public interest is rarely served by the 'perpetuation' of 'unlawful' governmental action.