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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images and Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
It has been a project which has hit multiple snags, and now US president Donald Trump’s desire to have his name added to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is facing another roadblock after its board voted to close the center, with renovations ‘not taking place’ unless his name can appear on the building.
In a post to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, the 80-year-old wrote: “The Board of The Kennedy Center today agreed, almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction. 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. The attorneys from the DOJ will ask for an expedited appeal.”
He added that a sum of $17 million, which he raised, has been put into the center’s account to “keep it afloat”.
The board’s vote and Trump’s comments followed a federal judge blocking yet another proposal to rename the building to mention the convicted felon, with Judge Christopher R. Cooper writing: “Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing.”
Awkward.
And the latest developments have seen fresh criticism levelled at Trump, with writer and journalist Maria Shriver branding the Republican “small minded” and “narcissistic”:
Political commentator Brian Krassenstein branded the news “sickening”, calling Trump a “f***ing baby”:
“The planet has never seen a bigger loser than Donald Trump. It has not,” tweeted podcaster Jack Hopkins:
“Has there ever been a more petty b****,” commented Cenk Uygur of the online news show The Young Turks:
Author Don Winslow questioned: “When will America stand up to the ransom demands from this POS?”:
Progressive commentator Alex Cole said: “Funny how the Kennedy Center was doing fine until Trump decided he had to possess it. The man is a fungus”:
And Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Trump “the biggest, whiniest, most pathetic crybaby on Planet Earth”:
The news also comes after a Department of Justice attorney wrote in a court filing last month that the center “will be required to be taken down” if the desired renovations don’t go ahead.
Trump did have his name added to the center in December, but a court order meant it had to be removed, which happened in June behind some tarpaulin.
That backfired though when the covering was used as a backdrop for a projection from The Lincoln Project Advocacy (part of the wider anti-Trump Lincoln Project) criticising Trump, including his handling of the Epstein Files.
Oops.
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