Trump asserts executive privilege in Kennedy Center lawsuit

President Donald Trump formally asserted executive privilege over records and testimony sought in a lawsuit concerning his management of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, according to federal court papers filed Wednesday, October 14, 2026. The claim could limit what Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the center’s board, may obtain about White House involvement in decisions affecting the institution.

The assertion came in Beatty v. Trump, a case pending before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington. Beatty is challenging actions that include efforts to rename the congressionally created center and close its main building for two years for renovations. The privilege question is not settled: Cooper had not ruled on the administration’s assertion as of Thursday, and executive privilege can be overcome in some circumstances by a sufficiently strong showing of need.

What Trump’s filing covers

Joshua Hoyt, a deputy White House counsel, said in a sworn declaration that he was acting at Trump’s direction. Hoyt invoked the presidential communications privilege over information, documents and communications shared among Trump, government and nongovernment advisers, and Kennedy Center employees concerning the center’s management and operation. The declaration covers communications prepared to inform Trump’s deliberations as well as messages conveying his decisions.

The Justice Department’s accompanying response asks Cooper to reject Beatty’s motion to compel further discovery. Government lawyers argue that the requests raise separation-of-powers concerns and amount to an overly broad search for material that is not directly relevant to the board’s votes on a temporary closure. The filing says Beatty has already received more than 7,500 pages of material, five depositions and responses to written questions.

The administration ties the privilege claim to Trump’s official duties. Federal law gives the president authority to appoint the Kennedy Center’s general trustees and members of its Advisory Committee on the Arts. The government argues that carrying out those duties requires Trump to learn about the center’s operations, programming and fundraising, even though he also serves separately as chairman of its board.

Why Beatty disputes the claim

Beatty’s lawyers argue that Trump is a defendant in his capacity as chairman of a nonprofit board, not for an exercise of presidential power. They say the Kennedy Center is not part of the executive branch and that its employees are unlike the close presidential advisers traditionally covered by the privilege. In a statement reported by NBC News, her lawyers accused Trump of trying to shield his management of the board and said the privilege should not be used to block accountability.

That dispute makes the filing significant beyond the underlying renovation fight. The presidential communications privilege ordinarily protects confidential advice and deliberations connected to official presidential decisions. This case asks whether, and how far, that protection extends when the president’s statutory appointment powers overlap with his voluntary role leading the board of a federally chartered cultural institution.

The Kennedy Center dispute

Trump became the first sitting president to chair the Kennedy Center board after trustees selected by his administration elected him to the role. Beatty’s lawsuit followed board actions to add Trump’s name to the center and shut the main building for renovation. Cooper previously blocked the planned two-year closure and permitted expedited discovery into the board’s decision-making.

NBC News reported that the venue then closed temporarily on September 15 for what officials described as emergency safety assessments and had not reopened by October 15. The new filing does not itself resolve whether the closure may continue, whether the requested records must be produced or whether the administration’s privilege theory is valid. Those questions remain with the district court.

Sources and image credit

Primary court records: Justice Department response to the motion to compel and declaration formally invoking privilege. Additional reporting: CBS News and NBC News.

Image: The Kennedy Center behind street barricades on October 12, 2026, photographed by G. Edward Johnson, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The original was center-cropped and resized to 1600×900; no text was added.