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Kennedy Center votes to restore Trump’s name and close for 2 years, challenging a judge’s order

WASHINGTON (AP) — The battle over the Kennedy Center’s future escalated Thursday as President Donald Trump’s allies on the board took new steps to commemorate him with physical changes to the iconic performing arts institution that could defy a federal court order.

During an hourslong meeting that was conducted virtually, the board voted to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” The plaza in front of the building would be named after Trump and most of the space at the venue would be closed for two years to allow for substantial renovations.

The changes, described by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is an ex-officio board member, and her lawyers, amount to a dramatic test of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.

He ruled in May that letters affixed to the building that spelled out Trump’s name were added illegally and he ordered their removal, a decision that the Republican administration failed to persuade courts to overturn. At the same time, Cooper blocked a two-year closure that was set to take effect July 5, saying an earlier board vote authorizing the shuttering was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained.”

“This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed,” Beatty said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”

A Kennedy Center representative did not respond to a request for comment.

Much of Thursday’s board meeting was expected to focus on the extent of closures required to allow for renovations that the Kennedy Center’s management says are needed to improve safety. In response to the judge’s criticism of the earlier vote, the institution’s leaders said they would provide the board with three options to consider.

They included a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

Ultimately, the board decided to close the building for two years while leaving the potential for some degree of programming to still happen in an outdoor space known as the Reach. The decision to move ahead with the two-year closure, in addition to the moves to memorialize Trump, could revive questions about whether the board seriously considered the full range of options, a point Democrats emphasized after the meeting.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is also an ex officio board member, criticized a “sham meeting.”

“What happened today was nothing more than a rubber stamp on a decision the President made months ago that the Board already tried to effectuate without doing proper due diligence,” he said in a statement.

The Kennedy Center has become a metaphor for presidential power

During Trump’s second term, the Kennedy Center has become an unlikely — and highly visible — metaphor for presidential power. While he largely ignored the institution during his first term in Washington, Trump moved quickly to oust its leadership when he returned to office in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman.

His name was quickly added to the building, before coming down in June in response to Cooper’s order. The area where it once stood is now covered by a massive tarp.

The Kennedy Center moves are part of Trump’s broader push to reshape the physical landscape of the nation’s capital in ways that have few modern parallels.

He demolished the East Wing of the White House and is building a controversial ballroom in its place, though an appeals court ruled last week that construction should stop because Congress didn’t approve the project. Trump has said he will take the case to the Supreme Court.

His remodel of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has also stumbled after algae returned and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro refuted his claims that a vandal was responsible for the damage.

Meanwhile, Trump is planning extensive renovations of a golf course in East Potomac Park, which could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths. He is also moving forward with a triumphal arch that will sit near Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump has derided the Kennedy Center as “rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested” and threatened to hand the building over to Congress after Cooper rejected the closure and the addition of the president’s name to the building.

The institution’s leadership has argued that it’s in genuine need of repair and updating.

Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director and chief operating officer, guided a group of journalists through the building in April, highlighting severe water damage that he said corroded steel in some places as thin as tissue paper. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and in need of replacement.

At the time, Floca said he considered doing the repairs individually but insisted it was his recommendation to Trump to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.

“When the president asked, ‘How do you make these projects the best? How do you make them really excellent and deliver them efficiently?’ My recommendation was you close the building and you do everything over a definite period of time, two years,” he said.

More recently, the legal battles became the subject of barbs and jokes as comedian Bill Maher accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in late June. At the start of the program, Pamella Roland DeVos, a Kennedy Center trustee appointed by Trump, described the institution as a “national cultural center open not just for some but for every American patron who wants to experience the greatest art and expression the world has to offer.”

“The responsibility that comes with it is one our board takes very seriously,” she said.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-center-closure-renovations-591cc891a1c0ececf3602ed121ce4840

This petty little narcissist just can't stand that his name can not be included with Kennedy's and his little minions are trying everything they can to defy a court order saying it can't be.

To this very day trump still refuses to uncover the sign on the Kennedy Center after his name was ordered to be removed from it by court order on June 13th.

House Republican says Congress ‘should do a little more’ for the rich

Wisconsin’s Glenn Grothman, up for re-election in November, says he believes more should be done to support America’s wealthiest citizens

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman has argued that Congress “should do a little more” to help wealthy Americans.

The six-term congressman, 71, a Donald Trump loyalist, spoke up for neglected U.S. elites Thursday during a panel discussion on the economy in Troy, Michigan, with that state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. John James, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and other officials.

As the conversation pivoted to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July 2025, Grothman insisted the mammoth tax and sending initiative was intended to benefit “the average guy.”

“Don’t let anybody tell you that people running, uh, Congress right now are looking out for the rich,” he said.

“Actually, I think we should do a little more for them, but, you know, right now, uh, we are doing all we can to help the middle class, right?”

“If I was designing a tax cut for the rich, I wouldn’t talk about overtime,” he continued. “I wouldn’t talk about car loans, right? We are aimed at helping the average guy.”

The bill in question was strongly opposed by Democrats – who refused to vote through its cuts to assistance programs for low-income families, including Medicaid and free school meals – with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivering a near-nine-hour filibuster trying to prevent its passage.

It squeaked through anyway, passing the House 218-214 and the Senate 51-50 thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, with not a single vote coming from the opposition and two Republican congressmen, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, refusing to back it.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten reported Saturday that Trump’s signature bill has since added $4 trillion to the national debt and ranked government spending as his fourth biggest area of declining support, saying his approval rating on that subject had dropped from 34 percent to just 12 percent.

“A 22 percent drop. Woof!” the commentator remarked, joking that the New York Yankees are more popular in Boston than Trump is trusted with the public purse.

Grothman is up for re-election in November’s midterms against Democratic challenger Brad Smith and is no stranger to controversial public statements.

During Joe Biden’s single term in May 2023, for instance, he complained on the House floor that the 46th president was not nominating enough straight “white guys” to be judges, saying only five of the 97 names he had put forward were caucasian males and that two of those were gay.

35 of the judges confirmed were white males.

When Biden was succeeded by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, he suggested that opposition voters felt “they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background."

More recently, he has defended Trump’s now-scrapped “slush fund” to make payouts to alleged victims of “weaponization” by the Department of Justice and, speaking on Newsmax, delivered a Hall of Famer on Iran, declaring: “Sometimes they don’t act like they lost this war.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...q-wSNZ4oY0u6Q_aem_u3AXaHLNX96LJ4ZnEIoCxQ

And then those on the right seem shocked, outraged and confused why Democratic socialism is on the rise. As I've attempted to explain to them each action has an equal and opposite reaction. You think they would have known that by now.

Bone recently mentioned this - the post above essentially is about this: Lying outrageously is the new norm.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fact-check-every-single-part-223113956.html

Fact check: Every single part of this Trump story about South Korea is wrong

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6032550-ossoff-attacks-trump-iran-war/

Oh and don't forget about all the lies about the Iran war, and listen to this (fromJon Ossoff, the next PoTUS)

.... “Remember, last year, they claimed Iran’s nuclear program had been obliterated? Then, this year, they claimed it posed an imminent nuclear threat? Both times, lies. On day one of the war, listen to this, day one, the president said the war was quote, ‘Ahead of schedule.’ Ahead of schedule. On day four, he declared victory. Today is day 170,” said Ossoff, who is running for reelection this year.

.... “Listen to this, on day nine of the war, the incompetent Pete Hegseth guaranteed Iranian surrender. On day 14, he claimed Iran’s military had been destroyed. On day 40, he said every single objective had been achieved. That was four months ago,” Ossoff added.


So instead of paying attention to the real time incompetence, lies and corruption in the White House - the right wing spin machine is full overdrive about a fringe group of hardcore crazy communists who aren't part of the Democratic party, but with every post they make they try to make it seem like they are.

MAGA by importing beef from other countries? And here we were told that imports were bad and tariffs would insure more American product would be purchased..............

Trump announces plan to lower beef prices, but ranchers and some Republicans are already balking

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the U.S. without triggering higher tariffs, as he remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November’s midterms.

Beef prices have climbed to record highs amid a sharp drop in the number of U.S. cattle, consistent consumer demand and limits on cattle from Mexico, where the animals are facing a flesh-eating pest. The U.S. president has also imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter.

The president’s plan, however, drew immediate skepticism from agricultural experts and backlash from cattle ranchers and conservative rural-state Republicans. Ranchers, normally some of the president’s biggest supporters, are enjoying some rare profitable years and worry cheap beef imports will reduce cattle prices — and with it, the incentive to increase herd sizes.

“We all want lower grocery prices, but as I’ve said for months, we cannot do it at the expense of American producers,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a statement. “Flooding the market with foreign beef hurts our livestock industry and undermines the long-term solution: growing the U.S. cattle herd to meet demand.”

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said in a social media post just hours after Trump’s announcement that the president’s “heart is in the right place,” but importing beef will “harm our ranching families who feed the nation.”

The deal, Trump said, allows up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the U.S. for the next 90 days without activating an “out of quota” tariff, which is a tax that goes into effect once a certain quantity of that product enters the country.

The president said on social media that he had committed to ensuring the imported beef would be sold at 25% below current market rates, making it cheaper for American consumers. A White House official said the deal is with foreign beef exporters who have agreed to the discount on beef.

“You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last,” U.S. Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper said in a statement. “This move will weaken our markets and gamble with food safety in the process.”

The president’s announcement and other market interventions sacrifice “long-term stability for short term messaging,” Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement.

Glynn Tonsor, a professor at Kansas State University who focuses on the cattle and beef industry, said he would like to see more details about the latest deal but that his immediate assessment was that it wouldn’t have a big effect on prices.

That’s because 300,000 metric tons amounts to roughly 3% of what Americans eat yearly, he said. “The relative magnitude we are talking about is pretty small.”

David Anderson, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, said he was skeptical other countries could redirect so much beef to the U.S. in such a short time period.

“Is that even achievable?” he questioned in a phone interview.

The White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that has yet to be finalized, said the beef in question is lean beef trimmings that are used for ground beef production. Trump plans to sign an executive order formalizing the directive within two weeks, the official said. The administration made a push last year to buy more beef from Argentina to try to bring down prices.

The president said Friday that his plan would help grow the U.S. cattle supply, which is the smallest it’s been in decades. Some ranchers and experts said the opposite effect was more likely.

“Imports have been a major contributor to the decline in the U.S. cattle inventory,” said Bill Bullard, the CEO of the R-CALF USA, which represents independent cattle producers. “Using more imports today will exacerbate that decline and will prevent herd expansion.”

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-beef-prices-ranchers-e0e3dd60ae754d647527c7734a091edf

Cattle ranchers like the farmers before them are finding out what it feels like when trump stabs you in the back in exchange for all of the support you have given him.

Stars and Stripes editor says he has been fired for insubordination after doing interview

The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, as well as its publisher and a reporter, the editor said. He said he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon but has a long legacy of editorial independence, told The Associated Press that he and the others had received notices of separation.

The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been increasingly aggressive and combative toward the news media — including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department. Trump or other parts of the executive branch have also, in policy and in the courts, grappled with The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press and The New York Times — in addition to using the FCC to target broadcast networks.

Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” He said he stands by the principle “that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent.”

Earlier this week, publisher Max Lederer announced his retirement effective at the end of September. He too received a separation notice, according to Slavin, as did Middle East reporter Lara Korte, who was cited for the same CBS interview as Slavin. Neither Lederer nor Korte immediately responded to requests for comment.

Lederer made his announcement a few weeks after the Pentagon installed a new deputy publisher, an active duty service member, under Lederer at the newspaper without his prior knowledge. Three Democratic senators on Thursday wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking why the new deputy — Navy Capt. William Urban — had been installed.

It was unclear whether Urban would now become the new publisher. In an email message to the AP, Urban said, “I am currently the Military Deputy to the Publisher. I can’t comment on what my role will be in the future.”

The retirement of Lederer, who had been at Stars and Stripes for three decades and publisher since 2007, comes as Hegseth’s Pentagon moves to exert editorial control and eliminate what it asserts are “woke distractions.”

Lederer, the second full-time civilian in the position, wrote in a staff memo that it had “become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.”

In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job had been to safeguard editorial independence.

https://apnews.com/article/stars-stripes-pentagon-censorship-media-d42affb0c17fef31c6089645c8dbbe70

Control the narrative at all costs.....

RNC Chair Blames Trump’s Bad Approval Rating On (Checks Notes) Joe Biden

Trump currently has low marks with voters and Joe Gruters is laying the blame on his predecessor.

The current head of the Republican National Committee is apparently blaming President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings on (checks notes) Joe Biden.

The Republican Party currently controls the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court ― and, frankly, some terrible approval ratings thanks to Trump.

But a new Reuters-Ipsos poll shows that only 33% of Americans approve of the president’s performance while 64% disapprove. It’s his lowest approval since his first term in December 2017.

Considering the midterms are just a few months away, the news obviously isn’t great for the party overall, but RNC Chairman Joe Gruters is prepared. Prepared to blame anything but Trump for her own failures, that is.

Gruters addressed the low approval ratings during a Friday interview on NewsNation.

But if you thought he was going to concede that rising inflation, high gas costs and the war in Iran might be blamed for the bad polling numbers, you’d be dead wrong.

Instead, he decided to follow the lead of previous Republican officials and blame Biden, who, you might remember, hasn’t been president since Jan. 20, 2025.

After host Markie Martin noted that the economy is the biggest factor “when it comes to elections,” she asked, “How do you convince people you’re the right choice to make things like gas and groceries cheaper — and not the Dems?”

Gruters suggested the upcoming midterm convention might help win voters, before suggesting the real culprit to the current political predicament is a man who is no longer in power.

“The president is still dealing with the Biden issues that were left over under the disastrous four years they ruled,” Gruters said before falsely claiming gas prices were higher under Biden.

He also mentioned the Iran war is a factor, despite it being Trump’s doing entirely.



The unemployment rate in January 2025: 4.0%
The inflation rate in January 2025: 3.0%
The unemployment rate in July 2026: 4.1%
The inflation rate in July 2026: 3.4%

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rnc-...88505e4b021f20f8897c9?ncid=NEWSSTAND0001

There are replies that point out this is nuts but some of the language can not be posted here. This is what BDS looks and sounds like.