WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s administration told a federal appeals court that barring him from adding his name to the Kennedy Center would be an "existential" threat to the building because only he has the expertise and fundraising potential to save the venue.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the façade in June because the congressionally-approved statute that created the memorial designated it the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in recognition of the slain president.
But Trump has argued the building will fall into disrepair and could eventually be demolished unless he oversees the renovation and raises hundreds of millions of dollars to endow it. Congress has approved $257
million for the project.
In exchange for the fundraising and construction expertise, Trump demanded that his contribution be memorialized on the building and grounds.
"In short, without appropriate recognition, the Kennedy Center will be back where it was at the beginning – a financially insolvent facility and a decrepit, dilapidated, crumbling building, that is bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and that continues to race toward physical and financial ruin," the Justice Department said in its filing at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Cooper's rulings. "The stakes are existential."
Government lawyers previously said without renovations the center "will be required to be taken down" and possibly be replaced with "a large outdoor amphitheater."
"The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct – that few others have," Trump said on social media Sept. 15.
The three-judge appeals panel – Judges Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins and Gregory Katsas – hasn’t set a date for oral argument in the case. Millett and Wilkins were appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama and Katsas by Trump.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate on Sept. 28 blocked a bipartisan proposal to prevent the administration from tearing down the building.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, who oversee funding for the Interior Department, which cares for facilities such as the Kennedy Center, proposed legislation to prevent the tearing down "a memorial to honor a president designated by Congress" tearing down the building unless lawmakers authorize the demolition.
"You are shutting down the beating heart of our arts world that reverberates across America because the President can’t put his name on it? What kind of children are serving on that Board?" Merkley asked on the Senate floor. "And what kind of childish tantrum was thrown by the president of the United States shutting down the Kennedy Center?"
But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected to quickly approving the measure by unanimous consent, which blocked it at least temporarily.
The Kennedy Center board closed the venue earlier this month, after part of the ceiling collapsed during a heavy storm. Government lawyers contend it is too dangerous for patrons to visit.
Cooper has also ordered the government to give him an update on the temporary closure and repairs by Oct. 2.
The board had previously voted to close the venue for two years of uninterrupted construction. But Cooper ruled the decision was made too hastily and ordered it to remain open. Cooper also has ordered the administration to notify him at least 30 days before demolishing the building.
After Cooper ordered Trump’s name removed from the building, the board voted in August to rename the building: "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump."
If Trump’s fundraising for the project reaches $100 million, the façade would read: "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund."
The board also voted to name the grounds beneath the venue "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
"It does not rename the Center, nor is it a 'memorial' to President Trump," government lawyers said of the board’s vote. "Such acknowledgements of major donors are common at similar facilities, and Congress did not prohibit such a sensible recognition here."
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves on the board, fought in court to remove Trump’s name and to prevent it from being reinstalled. She has argued the board is nakedly defying Cooper.
The Kennedy name on the building’s façade continues to be shrouded in tarps and scaffolding around where Trump’s name was removed.
But Justice Department lawyers argued in their appeals filing that Beatty has no right to bring the lawsuit because she serves on the board because of her role in Congress.
"This again was error," the lawyers wrote of Cooper siding with Beatty.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump admin calls court block on Kennedy Center repairs 'existential' threat
