In Washington DC, a federal judge has placed a thirty-day buffer between presidential rhetoric and the potential demolition of the Kennedy Center, one of America's most enduring symbols of cultural life. President Trump's public suggestion that the 1971 performing arts landmark could be torn down prompted both legal action and public mourning, drawing the Kennedy family itself into the fray. The court's order does not resolve the question of the building's fate, but it insists that history, at minimum, be given time to respond before it is erased.