Fight comes to a close? For the last almost two years, President Donald Trump has been working to get the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to bear his name instead of Kennedy's. Yesterday, the Kennedy Center's board voted to close the building for a two-year, $250 million renovation, starting right now. Trump, never a man of principle but frequently a man of follow-through, threatened to block the renovations unless his name was added. Note that nobody's opposing the renovation on the grounds that it's a poor use of public funds. No, this is a petty battle through and through.
Some background: Basically, the Kennedy Center was designated, by federal law in 1964, to bear the name of President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the year before. That law barred the board from renaming the center or putting another person's name on it. Only an act of Congress could change the name.
