On Friday, as the clock ticked on a court order that Trump’s name had to be removed from the Kennedy Center, the administration appealed to the court that ordered Trump’s name removed from the building for a stay, but the judge denied the stay, writing:
Most notably, for the detailed reasons laid out in the Court’s ruling, Defendants have not “made a strong showing that [they] are likely to succeed on the merits” of any appeal. Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 426 (2009) (quoting Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770, 776 (1987)). Nor have Defendants demonstrated that they “will be irreparably injured absent a stay,” id. (quoting Hilton, 481 U.S. at 776), given both the de minimis resources that would be required to restore the Center’s current name in the event of a successful appeal and the lack of record evidence linking increased donations to the current name.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans were watching online streams late into the night as crews covered the lettering on the building with tarps and began their work. At one point, the work was halted due to what the administration told the court was a risk of thunderstorms.
On Saturday, a Kennedy Center official told the court that Trump’s name was gone.