The arts institution followed a judge’s order to take President Trump’s name off its facade. It had been granted a 12-hour extension to complete the work.
The Washington National Opera, which left the center amid the Trump administration’s takeover, says its efforts to retrieve its endowment and other assets have been blocked.
The Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera are no longer affiliated, but they remained entangled in a dispute over what assets the opera might still be owed.
After generations of slow and often staid improvements, the Trump era has already added a splashy flair to today’s Washington, including an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon cage rising on the South Lawn, ready to host a fight to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.
One day before a deadline to take the president’s name off its facade, the arts institution appealed a federal judge’s ruling that also temporarily blocked it from closing.
Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that only Congress had the power to alter the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was dedicated to the president in a 1964 law.