Judge Seeks Kennedy Center Explanation for Tarp Covering Facade

Nathan Howard / Nathan Howard, REUTERS A federal judge has asked the Kennedy Center to explain why a tarp has covered its facade for more than two months.

The center then issued a response about why the performing arts center needed such a large blue and white tarp.

“Water testing and structural repairs to the roof overhang of the Center’s front portico require the use of a scaffolding system, including a protective covering—a tarp—around that scaffolding,” Department of Justice attorneys told the court on the center’s behalf.

Ohio Rep.

Joyce Beatty, who has sued over proposed changes to the Kennedy Center, isn’t buying it.

She says the Trump-appointed board’s real motive is to “hide their embarrassment.” Beatty alleges that the tarp is covering up the fact that President John F.

Kennedy’s name has been restored to the building.

Her lawyers noted that no other part of the building is covered, only the facade, where the building’s name is shown.

“Defendants tellingly have not done so for months, leaving only the Center’s iconic name obscured—a strong indication that this structure has nothing to do with the roof and is, instead, meant to defy a return to the status quo,” they wrote.

The dispute is the latest chapter in Trump’s obsession with inserting himself in the image of the Kennedy Center.

In the first weeks of his second presidency, Trump fired half of the Kennedy Center’s board, replacing them with his own loyalists, and named himself chairman.

In December 2025, that new board voted unanimously to put Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center.

His name appeared on the building’s exterior the next day.

Then in May, U.S.