2026-08-27T20:32:19.533Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
美国一名联邦法官周四就肯尼迪中心计划在未来几周内重新将总统唐纳德·特朗普的姓名加回建筑一事提出尖锐质疑，并对法院就该举措是否合法作出裁决前就可能付诸实施表示不满。
此前法官克里斯托弗·库珀曾裁定，肯尼迪中心董事会为纪念特朗普投票更名这座历史悠久的表演艺术场馆的行为违法。在这场近两小时的听证会期间，库珀向为董事会本月早些时候的更名决定辩护的司法部律师提出了尖锐问题。此次更名计划是将现任总统的姓名与第35任总统的姓名一同添加到建筑外立面以及该建筑所在场地的其他区域。
听证会开始前不久，美国商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克曾表示，如果不加上特朗普的姓名，肯尼迪中心的实体存续将面临不确定性。
尽管由前总统巴拉克·奥巴马任命的库珀并未立即作出裁决，但他多次敦促司法部给出理由，解释为何肯尼迪中心计划最早在9月8日就推进重新添加特朗普姓名的工作。
法官称该日期专断武断，并表示如果肯尼迪中心不尽快调整时间表，他可能会发布临时禁令，在法律纠纷持续期间禁止该中心为建筑追加总统姓名标识。
司法部辩称，董事会最新的决议将特朗普的姓名添加到场地中，是为了表彰他对场馆维护的“持续”贡献，试图将此次提案与此前将整个肯尼迪中心以特朗普命名的尝试区分开来。
民主党众议员乔伊斯·比蒂提起的法律诉讼辩称，即便法院同意司法部的表述逻辑，国会也并未授权此类更名行为，且此举违反了库珀此前的裁决令。
卢特尼克在法院外对记者表示，如果特朗普无法牵头翻新肯尼迪中心，该中心的拆除将是“必然结果”，但他也驳斥了此类举措即将实施的说法。
“糟糕的事情确实可能发生，但不会在本周四发生，”卢特尼克说，“没人说这事会在周四发生。这只是一种必然结果，但不会马上发生。”
“说白了，董事会此举本质上是在拉拢史上最出色的筹款人和建设者，他们说‘好吧，好吧，你想要你的名字留在这里，那就在这吧。现在去干活吧’，”卢特尼克补充道，“这就是董事会的决定。”
卢特尼克的妻子是肯尼迪中心董事会成员之一，这位部长全程旁听了周四的听证会。
当司法部律师布雷德利·迈尔斯在主要辩论中表示，此次新的更名举措是为了确保私人捐款持续涌入肯尼迪中心的金库时，法官当即插话问道：“这和国会在相关法规中的意图有什么关系？”
库珀今年早些时候曾裁定，肯尼迪中心将场馆更名为“唐纳德·J·特朗普与约翰·F·肯尼迪纪念表演艺术中心”的决定违反了联邦法律，该法律规定场馆只能以已故总统的名字命名。特朗普的姓名于6月从建筑上移除，但此后一直有防水布遮盖着外立面。
肯尼迪中心董事会于8月13日投票决定，在肯尼迪中心的标识下方添加一行铭文，写明该场馆“由唐纳德·J·特朗普总统修复翻新”。董事会还表示，如果一项捐赠基金达到1亿美元，后续还可在建筑正面添加另一处提及特朗普的标识。该中心还计划以特朗普的名字命名其所在的物理场地。
政府方面辩称，以特朗普命名中心广场并不违反国会将该中心指定为仅纪念肯尼迪的法规。
但库珀周四暗示，按照司法部的理论，董事会将有权依法将停车场以美国前总统巴拉克·奥巴马命名，或将整个校园以美国前总统乔治·W·布什命名，园区内的每一块土地都可以按照董事会的意愿以任何人的名字命名。
“整个园区基本都可以用来冠名出售——这符合国会的整体规划吗？”库珀问道。迈尔斯并未反驳这一对其论点的解读。
这起诉讼由肯尼迪中心董事会当然成员比蒂提起。
她的律师纳撒尼尔·泽林斯基告诉法官，董事会最新的更名举措“是我今年早些时候在裁决驳回肯尼迪中心首次更名申请时考量的所有内容的一部分”。
他敦促库珀立即采取临时干预措施，因为他不信任肯尼迪中心不会在法官作出最终裁决前秘密推进更名计划。
“我担心他们可能会在深夜动手，”泽林斯基曾一度说道。
董事会辩称，与特朗普相关的更名举措对于为肯尼迪中心筹集亟需的维修私人捐款是必要的，该董事会甚至暗示，如果更名计划被否决，由于基础设施状况不佳，肯尼迪中心可能会被拆除。
泽林斯基周四抓住这一说法向库珀表示，这种威胁“令人震惊”。
“这是一种毫不掩饰的威胁，大意是‘瞧，你们这儿有这么棒的肯尼迪中心——要是出点什么事就太可惜了’，”他对库珀说道。
在本月早些时候的投票中，肯尼迪中心董事会还批准了一项关闭场馆两年以进行大规模翻新的计划。这一决定也可能面临更多法律挑战。
比蒂在接受CNN《卡西·亨特竞技场》节目采访时表示，特朗普和肯尼迪中心董事会及其盟友不可信。
“我不信任（特朗普）。就是这位总统曾告诉我们，我们会拥有一处翻新改造过的宴会厅，但他拆除了整个东翼和玫瑰花园，项目超支且至今未完工，”比蒂说。
“我无法预测这位总统会做什么，因为他太不可预测了，”她补充道，“但我们可以确定的是，他会做出一些非常不合理、毫无意义的事情。这也是我们持续抗争的原因。”
CNN的洛根·斯基恰诺为本报道贡献了内容。
本故事已更新补充细节。
Judge asks pointed questions of Kennedy Center’s plan to add Trump’s name
2026-08-27T20:32:19.533Z / CNN
A federal judge on Thursday sharply questioned the Kennedy Center’s plans to add President Donald Trump’s name back to its building in coming weeks and expressed frustration that it could happen before he decides whether the move is legal.
During a nearly two hour hearing before Judge Christopher Cooper, who previously concluded that the center’s board broke the law when it voted to rename the historic performing arts venue in honor of Trump, the judge asked pointed questions to a Justice Department attorney defending the board’s decision earlier this month to again add the current president’s name alongside that of the 35th president on the building’s facade and on other areas of the site the building sits on.
The hearing came moments after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the center’s physical future is in doubt if Trump’s name isn’t attached.
Though Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, did not immediately rule, he repeatedly pushed for DOJ to give him a reason why the center was planning to move ahead with its plans to add Trump’s back to its building as soon as September 8.
Describing that date as arbitrary, the judge said that if the center didn’t quickly change course on its timeline, he may have to issue a temporary order that bars the center from moving ahead with adding the president’s name back to its building while the legal wrangling continues.
The latest resolution from the board would add Trump’s name to the site to acknowledge his “ongoing” contributions to its maintenance, the DOJ is arguing, in an attempt distinguish the proposal from its previous attempt to add Trump’s name to the center writ-large.
The legal challenge from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty contends that Congress did not authorize such a move, even if the court were to agree with how the DOJ was framing it, and that it violates Cooper’s previous order.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Lutnick said the center’s demolition will be an “eventuality” if Trump isn’t able to renovate the center — but also dispelled the idea such a move is imminent.
“Bad things happen, but they’re not going to happen on Thursday,” Lutnick said. “No one’s saying it’s happening on Thursday. It’s just an eventuality, but that’s not going to happen.”
“I mean, this is the board classically capturing the greatest fundraiser and greatest builder ever by putting his name on it and saying, “OK, OK, you wanted your name. Here it is. Now go do it,’” Lutnick added. “And that’s the board’s decision.”
Lutnick’s wife is among the Kennedy Center board members and the secretary sat in the courtroom for the duration of Thursday’s hearing.
As Brantley Mayers, the DOJ lawyer, presented his main argument that the new renaming gambit was needed to help ensure private donations continue to pour into the center’s coffers, the judge quickly interjected, asking: “What does that have to do with what Congress intended in the statutes?”
Cooper ruled earlier this year that the center’s decision to rename the venue “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” violated federal law stating that the building could not be named for anyone other than the late president. Trump’s name came off the building in June but a tarp has blocked the facade ever since.
The center’s board voted on August 13 to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center’s sign that says the venue was “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” Another add to the front referencing Trump could come later if an endowment reaches $100 million, the board has said. The center also plans to rename the physical site the building it sits on in honor of Trump.
The administration is arguing that renaming the center’s plaza for Trump does not run afoul of congressional statutes designating the center as a memorial to Kennedy alone.
But Cooper suggested on Thursday that under DOJ’s theory, the board would be authorized under the law to name the parking garage after former President Barack Obama or the campus after former President George W Bush, and that every single parcel of the complex could be renamed for whomever the board sees fit.
“The whole thing would be for sale, basically — and that would be consistent with Congress’ overall scheme?” Cooper asked. Mayers did not push back against that interpretation of his arguments.
The case was brought by Beatty, an officio member of the center’s board.
Her lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky, told the judge that the board’s latest renaming gambit “is part and parcel of everything” he considered earlier this year when he ruled against the center’s first renaming bid.
He urged Cooper to intervene now on a temporary basis because he didn’t trust that the center wouldn’t move ahead with its plans in secrecy and before the judge made a final decision.
“I’m worried that they might do this in the middle of the night,” Zelinsky said at one point.
The board is arguing that the Trump-related name changes are necessary to secure private contributions to the Kennedy Center for what it describes as desperately needed repairs, and it has even suggested that the center could be demolished — if the changes were to be blocked — because of the poor shape that its infrastructure is in.
Seizing on that suggestion Thursday, Zelinsky told Cooper that the threat “is breathtaking.”
“It is a not-so-subtle threat along the lines of, ‘My, what a nice Kennedy Center you have here — a shame if something were to happen to it,’” he told Cooper.
During its vote earlier this month, the center’s board also approved a plan to close its doors for two years to undertake extensive renovations. That decision, too, is likely to face more court challenges.
Speaking on CNN’s “The Arena with Kasie Hunt,” Beatty said Trump and the Kennedy Center board with his allies can’t be trusted.
“I don’t trust (Trump). This is the same president that told us we were going to get a remodeled, renovated ballroom, and he demolished the entire East Wing, the Rose Garden, over budget and unfinished,” Beatty said.
“I can’t predict what this president would do because he has been so unpredictable,” she added. “But what we know we can count on, he will do something that is very unreasonable and that something that doesn’t make sense. And that’s why we continue to fight.”
CNN’s Logan Schiciano contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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