Donald Trump took over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts under the guise of increasing profit and completing long-ignored renovations.
However, his takeover of the living memorial to the 35th president of the United States is beginning to look more like a high-stakes heist.
The center has been mostly vacant since a Sept. 15 board vote to close, and Trump’s legal team has fought to conceal what he doesn’t want exposed.
Allegedly, the Kennedy Center complex is on the brink of bankruptcy. It could remain shuttered for two years per the president’s $257 million renovation proposal.
Widespread questions about his real intentions for the venue grew amid speculation about a possible demolition.
Still, Trump has continued his fight to rebrand the memorial as the Trump-Kennedy Center.
“Whenever Trump doesn’t get his way, he is going to burn it down, whether it is a person, place or thing. He is a petty, thinned-skinned, revengeful baby,” a critic wrote.
A federal judge ordered officials to remove his name from the signage in June.
Rep. Joyce Beatty began challenging the president’s plan to rename the center in December 2025. The Ohio Democrat amended her filing to address the closure in March.
The ongoing legal battle to expose the president’s correspondence with board members and those in his inner circle is the latest point of contention in the judicial melee.
The businessman now faces accusations that he tried to conceal 200 text messages from Beatty.
An Oct. 25 filing states that Trump’s lawyers waited until the last minute of discovery, on Oct. 23, to hand over a communication log about the Kennedy Center management.
Based on what was provided, Beatty learned that Trump was in “near-constant contact” with the board, including on voting day.
Trump appointed new members and himself as chairman in February 2025.
The filing raises concerns about missing correspondence between Trump and Matt Floca, the center’s director; Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant; and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose wife, Allison Lutnick, is a Trump-appointed board member.
“What is the administration trying to hide?” a second reaction read.
Howard Lutnick was among Trump’s cronies who shared video of a chunk of the center’s ceiling falling into the lobby during a storm in early September.
The footage was used to support Trump’s closure agenda.
“Without access to these materials, Plaintiff will lack a complete picture of Defendants’ actions. It should not have taken Defendants this long to produce a privilege log, and their delay unfortunately suggests gamesmanship,” the filing reads.
Defendants also withheld 17 emails covering “planning for the Kennedy Center Honors program.” The 49th annual ceremony will take place at Washington’s Capital One Arena on December 7.
Comedian Billy Crystal, a 2023 recipient of the award, weighed in on the center’s renaming and closure battle.
“I just want — no. It’s just so selfish and so petty,” said Crystal during the Oct. 24 taping of “Connect with Jacob Soboroff.”
Last month, Trump’s lawyers argued that “executive privilege” protected his involvement in discussion about the landmark.
Beatty’s rebuttal explained that Trump acts as chairman, not the president. Therefore, his communication with parties tied to the Kennedy Center should not be protected.
The public is hoping the saga of Trump taking over the Kennedy Center will soon be over.
NEW: Plaintiffs suing to halt Trump closure & renaming of Kennedy Center submit court filing arguing Team Trump is shielding 100s of records showing “Trump’s ongoing, direct management of the Kennedy Center”, including Kennedy Ctr staff messages to Natalie Harp & Howard Lutnick https://t.co/8ATaE8FxFo
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 25, 2026
