Judge Christopher Cooper held that Congress, and only Congress, can change the name of the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center Board, comprised of Trump sycophants, cronies and, as chairman, Trump, after being forced to remove Trump’s name above that of President Kennedy, has come up with a workaround.

The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Thursday to inscribe President Trump’s name on the building beneath the main signage, according to two people with direct knowledge of the proceedings, aggressively testing a federal judge’s order.

The white marble exterior already bears the damage of a name installed and removed above that of Kennedy, but remains hidden behind a tarp to conceal the shame of failure. The next try will be below the Kennedy name, but with a twist.

According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board’s decision, which directs officials to act by “all legal means,” came shortly after it voted to move forward with Mr. Trump’s plan to shutter the building for renovations.

Whether closing the Kennedy Center for two years is a good, or awful, idea is another matter. It’s already lost most of its attendees and donors. Acts refuse to play there. Productions have gone elsewhere. Some argue that the closing, purportedly to facilitate renovations of what Trump calls a “dilapidated” building, is merely a coverup of the fact that it’s no longer culturally sustainable. Trump’s handiwork has killed the Kennedy Center and even if it were open, nobody would come. The sort of folks who were engaged with the Kennedy Center do not adore Trump as much as people who buy Tesla trucks.

But inscribing Trump’s name below the Kennedy Center name doesn’t mean it will be done in a tasteful and demure way.

In a phone interview after the votes, Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent and a longtime Trump ally who sits on the board, said the trustees acted out of a desire to make the Kennedy Center more of a sought-after sightseeing destination. His goal for the inscription of Mr. Trump’s name is to make it “as big as it can get,” he said.

Trump is not noted for his good taste in aesthetic matters, except by Trump himself, who believes his taste is “beautiful,” as evidenced by his changes to the Oval Office, the Lincoln bathroom, the rose garden, the ballroom and the Arc d’Trump. Apparently, Zampolli shares Trump’s Queensian aesthetic.

Restored and Renovated by

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

And the weird thing is, this is likely an entirely lawful way to defeat Judge Cooper’s ruling and Congress’ authority to dictate the name of the Kenney Center. After all, the name isn’t being changed. Theoretically, it’s still the Kennedy Center, with the added note that it is/was/will be “restored and renovated” by Trump, assuming it happens.

So what if there’s a war going on in Iran that isn’t panning out anywhere near as well as Trump hoped or claims. It’s boring, he says, which is likely true given his attention span and expectation that Iran would fold like Venezuela, reflecting his ignorance of Iran and lack of strategy when he entered into this debacle.

But what does interest Trump is putting his name on things, from airports to train stations to coins to the Kenney Center. Whether “Trump” is chiseled into the granite of the Trump Ballroom in letters large enough to be seen from across the Potomac remains to be seen, but absolutely no one will be surprised if and when it happens.

The goal is legacy, to leave a permanent mark on as much as possible so that someday, when he’s gone, it will be impossible to forget that Trump was there. Whether the next Democratic administration goes to work removing all evidence of Trump’s debauchery remains to be seen, but for the time being, at least the tarp will finally come down to show Trump’s name “as big as it can get.” And that’s what interests Trump.