Tarp Covering Kennedy Center Facade Must Stay, DOJ Argues in Court

The legal team for Rep. Joyce Beatty called it “a childish refusal” to accept Trump’s removal from the facade.

The Kennedy Center

The explanation comes days after the Kennedy Center’s board took a second swing at honoring the president by name, voting to carve “Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” below the official inscription honoring Kennedy. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

The tarp covering the Kennedy Center facade must remain as part of ongoing construction activities following the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the building, Justice Department attorneys argued in a recent court filing.

Removal of the scaffolding and tarp obscuring the storied venue’s marquee will depend on the extent of required repairs, the government attorneys wrote in a Tuesday status report to the federal judge that ordered Trump’s name removed in May.

“Center management has erected one portion of this necessary scaffolding, which it used to remove President Trump’s name from the building’s facade,” the filing states. “The protective barrier around the scaffolding was and is a necessary element of the ongoing construction activities at the Center.”