Judge blocks new Trump inscription on Kennedy Center

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Kennedy Center’s latest attempt to inscribe President Trump’s name back on building — and to rename the campus after him.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board cannot move forward with the plans without “Congress’s blessing,” finding that an August vote on the renaming violated his earlier injunction.

“The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted,” Cooper, an Obama appointee, wrote in a 22-page opinion .

It is the second time that Cooper has blocked the Kennedy Center from etching Trump’s name on the front portico of the renowned performing arts center, siding with Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio board member who opposes the pro-Trump plans.

In late May, Cooper ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the building’s facade, concluding that the Trump-appointed board’s decision was unlawful because only Congress had the authority to change the center’s name.

Several attempts by the Justice Department to pause Cooper’s order were unsuccessful, and the lettering of Trump’s name was stripped in the early morning hours of June 13. It was simultaneously covered with a tarp, obscuring the change from public view.

But the board voted on a resolution last month that it would again add Trump’s name to the facility, this time in the form of two inscriptions that read: “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” and “endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The Justice Department has argued that the board is not attempting to rename the institution but rather seeking to recognize the president’s fundraising role.

Cooper’s second ruling came down just before the board was set to meet again on Tuesday afternoon decide on whether to immediately close the facility for repairs and renovations.