A US appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump's name must remain removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while the organization appeals an earlier ruling that found the name change illegal.

Trump's name was taken down from the center's facade and signage last month after US District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered its removal and blocked Trump's plans to close the center for renovations. A three-judge panel on Wednesday struck down the appeal against this ruling.

This is another setback for the center's board of trustees, which Trump chairs, in a saga that began earlier this year when the Kennedy Center became "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."

The conspicuous addition and ensuing legal battle became symbolic of Trump's broader push to imprint his legacy — and, in this case, his actual name — on the nation's capital in his final term.

The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to pause the lower court order in a lawsuit brought by Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member.

"Today's ruling again affirms that this administration's efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful," Beatty said in a statement. "His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people."

The panel wrote that the board's request "failed to show how they will be irreparably injured" if Trump's name remains off the building through the appeal process. The board argued the removal "threatens to impede" fundraising, but judges found no supporting evidence.

Source: www.aljazeera.com