THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — As the clock ticks down to the Netherlands' opening World Cup match, soccer fans are gripped once more by orange fever.
Nowhere is the mood of euphoric optimism that descends on parts of this country every time its national team plays at a World Cup more glaringly obvious than on the Marktweg in The Hague, where the local community comes together to crush as much orange as possible into virtually every square inch of their street.
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Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
From the thousands of tiny flags fluttering above the road to the facades of houses, trees and streetlights, everything is orange, apart from the few places that choose to display the red, white and blue of the Netherlands' flag.
Depictions of lions — another national symbol — abound, many of them wearing the striking orange soccer shirt of the team known simply as “Oranje” — the Dutch word for orange.
Over the years, this epicenter of orange has become a popular destination for fans and an event that draws together neighbors who spend weeks transforming their street.
“So far, we haven’t encountered anyone who said ‘we don’t like it’ or complain about it," organizer Danny van Dijk told The Associated Press on a visit Tuesday. "Up to now, we’ve only heard positive things.”
In a nod to an accommodation option often chosen by Dutch soccer fans, a single small red, white and blue caravan stands at an intersection surrounded by orange mesh and carrying a banner identifying it as the “Hague Orange Campsite.”
It will become a focal point for fans who aren't traveling to the United States, where the Netherlands opens its Group F campaign against Japan on Sunday in Dallas, then plays Sweden in Houston on June 20 and completes its group stage against Tunisia six days later in Kansas City.
The country's king, queen and crown princess will be in Houston for the Sweden match — and will watch Curaçao, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, play Ecuador. The national color is a consequence of the royals' family name — Oranje-Nassau.
For a small nation of some 18 million, the Netherlands has often punched above its weight at the World Cup, reaching the final three times — 1974, 1978 and 2010 — but never winning the title.
If there were a world cup for street decorators, the residents of Marktweg would be serious contenders.
“The street is beautifully decorated. All that orange. That must have been a huge task," said Rob van Rosmalen, an amateur photographer who visited the street Tuesday. “And it’s great that all the neighbors are working together like that seems to me that’s good for the neighborhood atmosphere.”
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Workers began removing President Donald Trump's name from the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the iconic performing arts venue’s operations.
Scaffolding was erected Friday around a section of the building that includes Trump’s name, but shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of thunderstorms that had swept through the Washington area, causing a delay.
In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”
A few hours later, workers began covering the scaffolding with tarps before they eventually started taking down Trump's name. They packed up and left the site around 3:30 a.m., though the tarps remained, leaving it impossible to determine if all the letters had been removed.
Dozens of people spent hours Friday on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to have Trump's name removed from the building, was spotted at one point on the plaza.
Earlier Friday afternoon, a judge rejected a request to pause the court-ordered deadline. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.
After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.
In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.
“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”
Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.
A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
Associated Press journalists Anna Johnson, Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Women take a selfie as the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is covered in tarp as work continues on the removal of President Donald Trump's name, Saturday, June 13, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A worker constructs scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is covered in tarp as work continues on the removal of President Donald Trump's name, Saturday, June 13, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
The wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is covered in tarp as work continues on the removal of President Donald Trump's name, Saturday, June 13, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
The wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is covered in tarp after President Donald Trump's name was removed, in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A worker removes a letter from President Donald Trump's name from the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A worker removes a letter from President Donald Trump's name from the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers wait for the rain to stop before resuming work to remove President Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A double rainbow is seen from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers construct scaffolding below the sign for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Protestors wave a U.S. and signs as workers prepare to remove President Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
