President Donald Trump’s name was set to be removed from the Kennedy Center but a 12-hour delay has been sought by the administration. Kyle Cheney, a senior POLITICO reporter, shared the document seeking a delay.
He noted that a crowd including lawmaker Joyce Beatty had been outside the Kennedy Center for most of the evening.
The Kennedy Center was asked to remove Trump’s name from the facade of the performing arts venue after a judge had rejected the request to pause the court-ordered deadline on Friday to remove all references to Trump on the building as well as other aspects of the Kennedy Center’s operations.
Why Trump admin sought delay to remove name from Kennedy Center?
The document shared by the POLITICO reporter noted “Defendants respectfully request a brief extension of time to file the compliance declaration required by this Court’s May 29, 2026 permanent-injunction order (see ECF No. 49), as one task- the removal of signage from the Center’s front portico “that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump,” id.-has been delayed because of thunderstorms in the District of Columbia that presented safety concerns for workers.”
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It added “The removal work is presently ongoing, and Defendants expect it will conclude in the early hours of the morning of June 13, 2026. Id. Defendants respectfully request a short extension of time until noon on June 13, 2026- to file their compliance declaration. Defendants reached out to Plaintiff when it became clear late in the evening of June 12 that progress on removal of the letters had been sufficiently hindered to threaten the midnight compliance deadline.”
The document further noted “Plaintiff’s position is that Defendants had two weeks to comply with the order, and only need an extension because of their inexcusable delay. Plaintiff also has concerns that this fits a patten of non-compliance on Defendants’ part. But under the circumstances, Plaintiff takes no position on a 12 hour extension. Plaintiff would strongly oppose any further extensions.”
In short, the thunderstorms in the DC area is why there is a delay in taking down Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center.
However, many of Trump’s critics did not take kindly to the delay. One person even flagged ‘something ain’t right’ on X, noting that when Trump’s name had to be put up, cherry pickers were used to make the task quick. However, they were building scaffoldings to take the name down.
“Why is it that when the workers put up Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center they used cherry pickers to add the letters… But to remove his name, workers have been building scaffolding for HOURS. Where are the cherry pickers? Something ain’t right here,” a person wrote.
A person claiming to be a retired attorney added “The claim about the storm delay isn’t too convincing if you’ve watched workers do little for hours. And I still think this could be a ploy to allow the DOJ to try another legal maneuver.”
