
President Donald Trump's name was set to be removed from the Kennedy Center but a 12-hour delay has been sought by the administration. Kyle Cheney, a senior POLITICO reporter, shared the document
seeking a delay.
He noted that a crowd including lawmaker Joyce Beatty had been outside the Kennedy Center for most of the evening.
The Kennedy Center was asked to remove Trump's name from the facade of the performing arts venue after a judge had rejected the request to pause the court-ordered deadline on Friday to remove all references to Trump on the building as well as other aspects of the Kennedy Center's operations.
The document shared by the POLITICO reporter noted "Defendants respectfully request a brief extension of time to file the compliance declaration required by this Court's May 29, 2026 permanent-injunction order (see ECF No. 49), as one task- the removal of signage from the Center's front portico "that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump," id.-has been delayed because of thunderstorms in the District of Columbia that presented safety concerns for workers."
It added “The removal work is presently ongoing, and Defendants expect it will conclude in the early hours of the morning of June 13, 2026. Id. Defendants respectfully request a short extension of time until noon on June 13, 2026- to file their compliance declaration. Defendants reached out to Plaintiff when it became clear late in the evening of June 12 that progress on removal of the letters had been sufficiently hindered to threaten the midnight compliance deadline.”
The document further noted “Plaintiff's position is that Defendants had two weeks to comply with the order, and only need an extension because of their inexcusable delay. Plaintiff also has concerns that this fits a patten of non-compliance on Defendants' part. But under the circumstances, Plaintiff takes no position on a 12 hour extension. Plaintiff would strongly oppose any further extensions.”
In short, the thunderstorms in the DC area is why there is a delay in taking down Trump's name from the Kennedy Center.
However, many of Trump's critics did not take kindly to the delay. One person even flagged ‘something ain’t right' on X, noting that when Trump's name had to be put up, cherry pickers were used to make the task quick. However, they were building scaffoldings to take the name down.
“Why is it that when the workers put up Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center they used cherry pickers to add the letters… But to remove his name, workers have been building scaffolding for HOURS. Where are the cherry pickers? Something ain’t right here,” a person wrote.
A person claiming to be a retired attorney added “The claim about the storm delay isn't too convincing if you've watched workers do little for hours. And I still think this could be a ploy to allow the DOJ to try another legal maneuver.”
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More