Topline
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, accused President Donald Trump of going into a “tantrum” on Tuesday after learning that a federal judge had sided with her and blocked the Kennedy Center board’s efforts to inscribe the president’s name on the building’s facade, which Trump signalled is a necessary condition for starting necessary renovation work at the center.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said she clashed with President Donald Trump during a meeting of the Kennedy Center’s board on Tuesday.
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Key Facts
Beatty said the president’s reaction to the ruling was the “most unprofessional thing” she had ever seen, and she accused Trump of resorting to “name calling.”
The Democratic congresswoman claimed Trump called her “obstructionist,” “dumb,” and “incompetent,” and she retorted by telling him, “I know you’re incompetent.”
Beatty said the president also said he will hold her responsible if something fell from the Kennedy Center building’s ceiling and killed someone.
The lawmaker said the argument escalated as Trump touted “how great he was with developing” and how he didn’t know anything about Beatty, before she shot back, telling the president he had “more bankruptcies than anybody in the room.”
What Do We Know About The Court Ruling?
Shortly before the board meeting began, Federal Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center cannot move forward with its plan to inscribe Trump’s name on the building’s marble facade. The ruling noted that the board cannot “install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing.” The center’s lawyers later appealed the ruling, according to a filing made later on Tuesday. Cooper cited an earlier ruling he made in May to block efforts to rename the institution to the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” and said its founding law designates that power only to Congress and forbids “additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials.”
What Had Trump Said After The Ruling?
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the necessary renovations at the Kennedy Center’s main building won’t happen until a court reverses Tuesday’s ruling. The president also suggested he’s willing to take the matter all the way up to the Supreme Court, noting: “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.” Earlier in the day, Trump posted the center was in a “virtual state of collapse,” and touted himself as the “only one” who can “save” the Kennedy Center “because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct — that few others have.” The president echoed an argument made in an internal document published by the center, which argued that Trump was the only person capable and willing to raise the funds needed to save the building. However, the document noted that any support from the president would be on the condition that he gets “appropriate recognition.”
further reading
Trump Says Kennedy Center Renovations Won’t Happen Unless Court Lets It Inscribe His Name (Forbes)
Kennedy Center Appeals Ruling Blocking Trump’s Name From Being Inscribed (Forbes)
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