“A tired refrain” — Beatty’s lawyers oppose Trump’s request for his name on the Kennedy Center

The lawyers of Democratic congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who is a board member of the Kennedy Center and is fighting in court to keep Trump’s name off the building, called the president’s argument “a tired refrain” in filings submitted on Wednesday to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, as USA Today reports. Trump, who chairs the center’s board, insists he will not renew it with Congress’s $257 million if his name is not placed on the facade alongside Kennedy’s. In his argument, he claims that the absence of his name “will make donors flee, contributions dry up and the structural rehabilitation stop.”

Beatty’s lawyers cite the District judge’s findings: a decline in the center’s revenues and contributions, artists who canceled performances, the Washington National Opera ending its 50-year residency at the center, and ticket sales and broadcast viewership of the “Kennedy Center Honors” that “fell significantly.” Trump has asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to overturn District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May order to remove Trump’s name from the facade and to keep the center open during renovations, according to USA Today. Beatty’s lawyers requested a 30-day extension — until November 30 — to respond to Trump’s latest filing, but Justice Department lawyers opposed it, wanting a resolution as soon as possible. The Court of Appeals has not yet set a date for oral argument.

The board closed the building earlier this month after part of the ceiling collapsed during a severe storm; the government says it is too dangerous for visitors. Cooper has ordered the authorities to inform him by October 2 about the temporary closure and the repairs. The board had previously voted to close for two years of uninterrupted construction, but the judge ruled that this was hasty and ordered the center kept open, also requiring 30 days’ notice before any demolition. After the name was removed, the board voted in August on the renaming: “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump”; if fundraising reaches $100 million, the facade will read “…Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.” The grounds beneath the building were named “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” A federal judge had earlier ordered the removal of Trump’s name, because Congress created the center as a memorial to the assassinated President John F. Kennedy.