Workers in the US capital removed President Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, the venue said, after a federal judge ruled that its renaming was unlawful.
In a legal filing, the centre’s Executive Director Matt Floca said it had “removed all physical signage on the Kennedy Centre building and grounds” containing Trump’s name.
Around noon Washington time, the sign on the building’s exterior was still covered by a white tarp put up as work was being conducted to remove Trump’s name.
Earlier, loud noise echoed from beneath the cover, as morning joggers stopped briefly in front of the venue to watch the work.
The effort came after a judge rejected a last-minute bid by the centre’s board to halt the removal of Trump’s name, marking a setback for the president’s broader push since returning to the White House to place his name and image in official spaces — an abrupt break with American political tradition.
An eager crowd had gathered outside the arts centre Friday night, cheering occasionally as workers erected scaffolding to take down the signage. Thousands monitored from afar via livestream, too, awaiting the moment when Trump’s name would be torn from the wall.
The work was delayed by “thunderstorms which presented safety concerns to workers” and was expected to be completed “in the early hours of the morning,” Kennedy Centre Executive Director Matt Floca said in a statement.
