The tarp covering the Kennedy Center has been removed, showing that President Donald Trump's name has been erased from the iconic building after a month-long court battle and the recent addition of the sheet blocking public viewing of the changed signage.
Scaffolding and tarp were spotted on the building on June 13, a day after a federal judge's deadline to remove Trump's name from the performing arts centre.
The Kennedy Center's tarp controversy
According to a new court document filed Monday afternoon, June 22, the Kennedy Center was being accused of keeping up tarps that block the sign in "petulant defiance".
Mallory Miller, a former Kennedy Center employee and a co-founder of the activities group Hands Off the Arts, claimed that tarp's continued presence is an intentional act to protect Trump's ego.
"What is clear to me is the Trump administration does not want to see that building without Trump's name on the facade before they could go through all their appeals," Miller said on Monday night.
Criticism on the tarp at the Kennedy Center
Democrats in Congress had criticised the centre for keeping up the tarps, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-MD, calling it a "literal cover-up" in an X post.
"It will be a beautiful day when the name of the Kennedy Centre is restored to visibility," said Raskin, accusing Trump of "vandalising federal property" by adding his name to the centre.
Jack Schloddberg, a congressional candidate and the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, accused Trump in an interview with MS NOW on Sunday of "attacking President Kennedy's legacy" with his effort to rename the centre.
Congress named the building the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964.
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the bill into law two months later.
President Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center
Trump launched a takeover of the Kennedy Center early in his second term and criticised it for allegedly "woke" programming and replaced the centre's board members with allies.
He also appointed himself as the chairman of the venue's board of trustees in early 2025.
The changed signage in December read, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts", after Trump's handpicked board members voted to add his name to the building.
Removal of President Trump's name from the Kennedy Centre
A federal judge ordered last month that Trump's name be removed, finding that the board had no authority to unilaterally rename the building.
"Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," US District Judge Christopher Cooper said on May 29.
The ruling also blocked the centre's two-year planned closure because the decision was "ill-informed and seemingly preordained" based on an "insufficient, one-sided presentation of information".
The Kennedy Center officially told Cooper on June 13 that all references to Trump have been removed from the centre.
Miller, who worked in the artistic programming department at the Kennedy Center, said "people power" is what caused the change.
"Trump thought he could come in and take this crown jewel of arts and culture," she said. "We're fighting back and telling him he can't."
President Trump fights the court's order
The Trump administration filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 11, which was denied with an unsigned order the following day.
Notably, the tarp's continued coverage of the facade has sparked questions about why it remains and whether its primary purpose is to hide the removal of Trump's name from the public.
