Judge blocks plan to return Trump's name to the Kennedy Center

A federal judge has ruled that the board of the Kennedy Center can't put President Trump's name back on the building, or rename the physical grounds of the arts center as the "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."

In a 22-page decision, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper referred to an earlier ruling, as well Congress' mandate regarding the living memorial to John F. Kennedy. "Simply put," he wrote, "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's ruling came as part of the ongoing federal lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board. She originally sued last December to stop the board from renaming the Washington, D.C., arts institution as "The Trump Kennedy Center."