Kennedy niece says Trump holding Kennedy Center 'hostage' amid battle over name
"Leave the Kennedy center alone," Kerry Kennedy said on Tuesday.
One of former President John F. Kennedy's nieces accused President Donald Trump of taking the Kennedy Center "hostage" after Trump said he wouldn't spend congressionally approved funding for the center's renovation unless the building also bears his name.
The comments by Kerry Kennedy, whose father was Robert F. Kennedy, followed a ruling by a federal judge blocking the performing arts center's board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site.
About an hour after that ruling, the board, which is controlled by Trump appointees, voted to close the center immediately for renovations.
Trump, in a social media post following the board's vote, then said those renovations will not take place unless his name is added onto the building.
Congress last year appropriated $257 million for the renovation. In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Kennedy described the board's efforts as "a tragedy," adding that the center is loved by many and the public "see the corruption of this."
"President Trump has said they have $250 million ready to hand over tomorrow," Kennedy said. "He's just withholding it because he wants his name on the building. So, this is like so many other things that trump has touched. It's a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it."
Kennedy, who serves as president of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, said Trump is withholding money intended for the performing arts center solely because he wants his name on the building.
"This is hostage taking by the president of the United States," she said.
In a direct appeal to the president, Kennedy said, "President Trump, please focus on what's important. Leave the Kennedy center alone. Allow us to move forward with this great art center, this monument to a slain president, and leave it alone. Focus on your job."
Kennedy's comments on CNN on Tuesday followed a similar statement released by another niece, Maria Shriver, who also described Trump's threat to prevent renovations a "tragedy." Shriver described Trump as "small minded" and "narcissistic."
"Actually great men, devoted to public service and the public good do not act like this," she said on social media. "It seems that this man will not rest until his name is permanently connected to the name of a great president, whose memory this building was dedicated to."
Last month, the Kennedy Center board members -- who Trump last year replaced with his allies -- voted to close the famed cultural institution for a two-year renovation.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued a written order on Tuesday morning blocking the attempt to add Trump's name to the building, concluding it violated a previous court order and congressional statute.
"Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing. The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted," Cooper wrote.
He said in his ruling on Tuesday that the board is engaging in "linguistic gymnastics" to place Trump's name somewhere on the grounds.
Trump in his social media post later said the center would be closed immediately.
"The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name," Trump wrote. "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."