A high-stakes legal feud over the future of the Kennedy Center intensified on Saturday after President Donald Trump demanded that a federal judge face criminal charges and impeachment following a ruling that halted his multi-million-dollar renovation and renaming plans.
The escalating dispute follows a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper on Friday, which temporarily blocked scheduled renovations and ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the iconic performing arts venue.
“The Kennedy Center’s 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’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote in his ruling. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Trump responded on Saturday with a lengthy, 700-word statement on Truth Social, directly attacking Judge Cooper and alleging a severe conflict of interest involving the judge’s wife, former federal prosecutor Amy Jeffress.
“Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress, who doesn’t use the ‘Cooper’ name because they, as a couple, don’t want people to know that she has a Conflict of Interest with an important Judge, is a Radical Left Democrat, who worked as a Federal Prosecutor and Counselor to Obama Attorney General, Eric Holder,” Trump wrote.
The President claimed the relationship prevented him from receiving a fair trial. “Amy is totally wired into the Left System, from her husband down, and it is impossible for me to be treated fairly. He has a total Conflict of Interest, and should be brought up on charges for not revealing these facts,” Trump stated, later adding that Cooper “should be IMPEACHED.”
The conflict stems from actions taken by the newly appointed Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. After firing the previous board, Trump installed a new lineup that includes himself, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scovino, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, and the wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. This hand-picked board voted unanimously to add Trump’s name to the building—a move the President notes was driven by the board, not himself, to help what he described as a “dying institution.”
In his social media posts, Trump painted a grim picture of the current facility, describing it as “broken, unsafe, and busted” and “in a potential state of collapse, rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested.”
“The marble is in terrible shape, the pipes are gone, the air conditioning and heating systems are 65 years old, and no longer functioning. It was all being torn out to be replaced by brand new Carrier Equipment, at the highest standard,” Trump wrote, claiming the upgrades are now stalled “because a Judge, whose wife is an anti Trump Hater, and he is too, decided, unprecedentedly, to not allow a desperately needed Building Renovation to go forward.”
Under the judge’s order, the center has 20 days to strip the Trump name from the facility. Trump warned that the legal roadblock would devastate the venue both physically and operationally.
“Judge Cooper also stated that the highly prestigious Board of the Center was not authorized to add on the name ‘TRUMP’ despite the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars of my time and money will be necessary for its successful reincarnation,” Trump wrote. “So now, the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially.”
The naming controversy has already caused significant disruption for the venue, with more than a dozen major acts canceling scheduled performances in protest since the rebranding was announced.
The Kennedy Center announced on Friday that it intends to appeal Judge Cooper’s ruling.
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