‘A tired refrain.’ Critics fight adding Trump’s name to Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's opponents to putting his name on the Kennedy Center called his argument that the venue would fail without his expertise “a tired refrain” because ticket sales and performances "dropped precipitously" under his leadership.

A federal judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts because Congress established it as a memorial to the slain president. Trump, who heads the center’s board since returning to the White House, insists that he won’t renovate it with $257 million from Congress unless his name is placed on the façade with Kennedy’s.

But lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves on the center’s board and is fighting in court to keep Trump’s name off the building, said a judge found “declines in revenue and contributions, as artists cancelled performances, the Washington National Opera ended its 50-year residency, and ticket sales and viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast dropped precipitously.”

Beatty’s lawyers called Trump’s argument that the lack of his name on the building “will cause donors to flee, financial contributions to dry up, and structural rehabilitation to cease” a “tired refrain.”

The dispute over Trump’s personal involvement in the renovation project…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/