Judge allows discovery tied to Trump's AF1 'placard' after flurry of court filings

17 Sep 2026, 11:18 by Matt Naham · Law & Crime

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

Update: After a flurry of court filings, Judge Cooper decided not to order up an emergency hearing, instead making clear that Trump administration "shall" give "notice in writing" to Rep. Beatty — and D.C. Preservation League plaintiffs in a "companion case" — "more than 30 days before the implementation of any changes to the scope of the project plans presented to the Court in D.C. Preservation League, including but not limited to any 'demolition' of the Center's main building."

In addition, the judge said the DOJ "shall" by Sept. 23 file a status report with a "sworn declaration from a knowledgeable representative of the Kennedy Center" attached, seemingly to provide details on the record supporting the "temporary closure' and emergency repairs[.]"

Most strikingly, Cooper allowed Beatty to "seek discovery regarding the subject of" the notice of supplemental authority filed earlier in the day, suggesting the "placard" Trump was looking at on Air Force One, or information about it, may not be off limits from disclosure.

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The DOJ told a federal judge early Thursday that the "temporary closure" of the Kennedy Center didn't violate his court order because "significant safety hazards" need addressing, all while ignoring an overnight photo of President Donald Trump on Air Force One appearing to take in the planned demolition of the building.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had ordered a response by 10 a.m., after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and a staff member of the Washington Litigation Group notified the court of barricades and fences at the center, submitting a declaration under penalty of perjury that a "forklift r[a]n into and hit the pillars on the building several times."

Beatty, a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, has repeatedly argued that the Trump administration has been misleading the court in claiming it must "demolish" the congressionally created memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy unless the current president can add his name to the building and save it from financial oblivion.

That led the Barack Obama-appointed jurist, who previously ordered the removal of Trump's name from the building, to again order this week that the defendants "cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress' blessing."

Still, the Trump-stacked Kennedy Center board voted for the third time to close the center, this time citing video of part of the ceiling "crashing violently on the floor."

To hear the DOJ tell it, that should be the beginning and the end of the discussion, and there's no basis for the emergency hearing Beatty seeks.

"No part of the Court's preliminary injunction order forbids a temporary closure like this one. This Court's order forbids only the further effectuation of a Board decision to close for 'such time as is required to complete the repair and restoration funded by Section 60025 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,'" the filing said. "This Court did not enjoin the Center from temporarily closing the building to address significant safety hazards."

The filing made no mention, however, of other details the plaintiff told Cooper about earlier Thursday.

A notice of supplemental authority from the plaintiff first included a quote of Trump saying of the center, "I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close, it will end up being ripped down."

Next, the plaintiff shared images of the president on Air Force One "reading a placard […] that appears to read 'Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.'"

A photograph appears to show President Donald Trump looking at a poster of a Kennedy Center demolition plan on Air Force One on Sept. 16, 2026 (court exhibit).

"Given the emergency nature of this matter and Defendants' 10 a.m. filing deadline for their response to Plaintiff's motion, Plaintiff wanted to make sure the Court and Defendants are aware of this new information," the filing said.

The DOJ has claimed that the Kennedy Center "is in terrible trouble," in "crisis […] so acute that, without the Trump Administration, its people, and President Trump, the Center cannot survive, either structurally or financially."

In a swift reply just before noon on Thursday, the plaintiffs reiterated that "additional urgency" arose "overnight," and "[n]ew evidence now shows that Defendants appear to be actively considering the demolition of the Center—something that they have also threatened in their papers before the Court."

"The facts in the record strongly suggest that Defendants' explanation is pretextual and was instead manufactured to skirt the Court's preliminary injunction order without first seeking modification or dissolution, as the Court indicated that Defendants must do before shutting down the Kennedy Center," Beatty's lawyers said. "But out of an abundance of caution, Plaintiff also respectfully requests the Court to make crystal clear that its order prohibits demolishing the structure."