Removal of Trump's name from Kennedy Center in US postponed due to thunderstorms

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Friday said in a filing the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has been delayed due to bad weather which may pose safety concerns for workers and expected it to be completed early on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily pause an order to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said he would not lift the order while a federal appeals court considers his ruling that only Congress could rename the venue memorializing former President John F. Kennedy in the nation's capital.

The Trump administration appealed the order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which also rejected the government's pause request later on Friday.

Attorneys for Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who brought the lawsuit, said in a joint statement that "the law is clear: only Congress can change the Kennedy Center's name."

“We are standing by for whatever Trump may try next, but his desperation is only making the spectacle worse for him," said Norm Eisen, co-founder of Democracy Defenders Action, a Democratic-leaning legal advocacy group, and Nathaniel Zelinsky of the Washington Litigation Group.

The White House and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cooper ruled on May 29 that only Congress could rename the arts center. His order had required Trump's name to be removed from the building's facade, its website and other materials by 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

Lawyers for the administration had asked the appeals court to pause the order, arguing: "It does not make sense to alter the Center’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal."

The Kennedy ​Center opened in 1971 as a memorial to the late president, who was slain in 1963. After Trump last year replaced several members of the board, the group voted in December to alter the center's name to include him.

Trump in February announced a two-year closure of the center for a major renovation effort. The Republican leader has made a broader push to reshape Washington's monumental core, including plans for a ​250-foot (76-meter) arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White ​House.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain and Mike Scarcella in Washington, and David Thomas in Chicago, additional reporting by Angela Christy M; Editing by Mark Porter, Sergio Non; Tom Hogue and Kim Coghill)