The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue after the White House announced that President Donald Trump‘s name would be added to the facility. “Your decision to withdraw at the last mom ent — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” the venue’s president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with The Associated Press. In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages “for this political stunt.” Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A drummer and vibraphone player, Redd has presided over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts. In an email Wednesday to The Associated Press, Redd said he pulled out of the concert in the wake of the renaming. “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd said. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. According to the White House, Trump’s handpicked board approved the renaming, which scholars have said violates the law. Kennedy niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior. Donald Trump Dec 25 Trump rings in Christmas Day with a flurry of posts denouncing perceived foes and casting doubt on the 2020 election Trump administration 8 hours ago What to know about the militants targeted by U.S. airstrikes in northwest Nigeria White House 4 hours ago White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announces she's pregnant with second child Associated Press writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report. ...read more read less