Judge wants to know why Kennedy Center facade has been covered since Trump’s name removed

A tarp has covered the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., ever since U.S. President Donald Trump's name was ordered to be removed from the building. Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

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A U.S. federal judge asked on Wednesday for an explanation for why a tarp continues to cover the facade of the Kennedy Center where President Donald Trump’s name was recently removed.

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District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the board of trustees of the performing arts venue until the end of July to explain “the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding that Defendants have erected on the front portico of the Center.”

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Trump’s name was removed from the Kennedy Center on the orders of Cooper earlier this month but the area where it was taken down remains covered by a white tarp and scaffolding.

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After returning to the White House last year, Trump named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and stacked the governing board with loyalists.

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The board voted in December to rename the venue “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” and the Republican president’s name was added to the facade in large letters above that of Kennedy.

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A number of artists canceled scheduled performances following the move.

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Cooper ordered Trump’s name taken off the iconic building in Washington, saying that only Congress has the right to change its name.

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A furious Trump responded by saying he was giving up control of the venue.

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Cooper has also issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations, which were due to start in July.

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Elsewhere in Washington, the now-defunct US Institute of Peace was renamed after Trump, and his face stares down from huge banners outside the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture.

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The Trump administration is also seeking to have his image printed on a $250 bill to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence from Britain.

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