The general counsel’s office at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts told employees in a memo on Thursday to “immediately” remove President Trump’s name from the institution’s branding on official forms and other documents. The mandate came days after a federal judge ruled that the board’s decision to add the president’s name to the building had been unlawful.
The memo gave staff members detailed instructions on the materials that needed to be updated, including social media accounts, email signatures and voice mail messages. It specified that outdoor and indoor signage with the barred name must be altered by June 12.
Shortly after the judge issued his decision on Friday, Kennedy Center leaders indicated that they planned to appeal. Mr. Trump was so incensed by the ruling — which also temporarily blocked his plan to close the building for renovations — that he threatened to walk away entirely from oversight of the center, where he serves as the chairman.
The internal memo took a far less defiant tone, and did not address whether the center’s Trump-allied leaders still intend to fight the decision in court.
“To comply with this order,” it said, “you must immediately change email signatures, letterhead and other documents to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center.’”
Representatives for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The center’s board, stacked with the president’s supporters, voted in December to add his name to the institution. Less than a day later, the letters on the center’s marble facade read: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
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