Washington National Opera sues Kennedy Center, alleging it withheld $17M

What they're saying: "WNO reluctantly files this case to preserve its future and to protect its donors and artists," the organization wrote in its 28-page lawsuit.

• "After the termination of a long-standing relationship between WNO and the Kennedy Center, the Kennedy Center has refused to return over $17 million that belongs to WNO."
• "These funds are critical to WNO's operations and represent years of gifts and donations that WNO's supporters made for its benefit," the lawsuit reads.

Catch up quick: The WNO and the Kennedy Center have operated under a roughly 15-year contract in which the opera produced shows that the performing arts center hosted, per the lawsuit.

• The two sides parted ways in January, nearly a year after Trump became chair.

Zoom in: The contract required the Kennedy Center to manage donations made to the WNO, but the two organizations "always remained separate legal entities" during the arrangement, the WNO said in the lawsuit.

• "And at all times, the WNO funds being managed by the Kennedy Center for WNO belonged to WNO, not the Kennedy Center."

The other side: "The exclusive WNO contract financially burdened the Center for more than a decade," Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center's vice president of public relations, told Axios in an emailed statement.

• "Taking into account the WNO's endowment, BDO calculated that the WNO accumulated a $72 million deficit to the Center from 2011 through 2026."
• Daravi said the WNO "failed to engage in good-faith discussions" to resolve the dispute, adding that the "lawsuit is meritless, and we plan to pursue a countersuit to defend the institution."

Zoom out: The legal dispute comes shortly before a judge upheld his earlier court ruling requiring the center to remove Trump's name from the building by Friday's deadline.

Go deeper: Judge upholds order removing Trump name from Kennedy Center