New images shared with Forbes show the Kennedy Center facade without President Donald Trump’s name after a court ordered the venue to remove it, offering the first look behind the tarp that has blocked the sign from public view for nearly two weeks.
The Kennedy Center's sign without Trump's name, taken from behind the tarp that still stands in front of the building.
Hands Off the Arts
The images, provided to Forbes by Hands Off the Arts, an activist group that has protested Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, confirm a claim the Kennedy Center’s lawyers had previously made in a court filing that it had removed Trump’s name from the building’s facade.
Mallory Miller, co-founder of Hands Off the Arts and a former Kennedy Center employee, told multiple outlets the organization obtained the photos through its “network of community members.”
“This is the picture the Trump administration does not want anyone to see, so it’s all the more important … that people have an opportunity to witness when they’re winning,” Miller told the Washington Post.
The Kennedy Center was ordered in May to remove Trump’s name from all digital and physical branding after a federal judge ruled it violated the center’s establishing law to rename the venue without congressional approval.
But since the name was removed, no onlookers have been able to see the proof for themselves as the center erected a large tarp that obscures nearly the entire sign.
Another view of the Kennedy Center's facade behind the tarp, after Trump's name was removed.
Hands Off the Arts
Workers erected tarps at the Kennedy Center in the early hours of June 13 as they removed Trump’s name from the facade. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi previously told the Washington Post the tarps are up so workers can repair the marble facade, but did not say when they are expected to come down. The tarps have sparked backlash from some Democrats, including Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Kennedy Center in December, objecting to its name change. In a court filing Monday, Beatty accused the center of keeping up the tarps in “petulant defiance” of the court’s order to remove the Trump branding. In a previous filing over the weekend, Beatty’s lawyers noted the tarp “inexplicably remains” outside the center and suggested it remains to “massage broken egos.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called the tarp a “literal coverup” in a post on X. “It will be a beautiful day when the name of the Kennedy Center is restored to visibility,” Raskin said, accusing Trump of “vandalizing federal property” by adding his name to the center.
The Kennedy Center is still trying to appeal the federal judge’s ruling that ordered it to remove Trump’s name and blocked it from closing for a planned two-year renovation. The center is pursuing a stay to block the court’s order while the appeal plays out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May the center must revert to its original name and temporarily blocked the center from closing for two years of renovations. Cooper said the 1964 law that established the center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy,” and that any name change requires congressional approval. Trump launched a takeover of the center early in his second term, purging its board and replacing fired members with allies, who voted in December to add his name to the venue.
Kennedy Center Accused Of Keeping Up Tarps In ‘Petulant Defiance’ Of Court Order (Forbes)
One Week After Kennedy Center Removed Trump’s Name—Tarps Still Block Sign (Forbes)
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