Kennedy Center Honors to be renamed as Trump-era changes continue
One of D.C.’s most well-known arts traditions is moving forward with a new name.
Kennedy Center Interim President Richard Grenell told WTOP that the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will be called “The Trump Kennedy Center Honors.”
Dancer and actor Fred Astaire, opera singer Marian Anderson, pianist Richard Rodgers, composer Arthur Rubinstein and choreographer George Balanchine were the inaugural class of Kennedy Center Honorees in 1978. Their careers were celebrated on a windy, wet day in December.
Donald Trump is the only president who did not attend the honors during his first term in office.
But that changed in the first year of his second term. Trump not only attended the show, he personally picked the nominees, altered the medallion design and became the first president to host the televised CBS broadcast.
Less than two weeks after the event, Trump’s handpicked board of trustees voted to add his name to the performing arts center that serves as the nation’s living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
Federal law prohibits renaming the building or adding additional memorials without an act of Congress. But the board approved the placement of the president’s name above Kennedy’s name on the exterior of the building.
While changes were made to the honors last year, Grenell said even more are coming in 2026, such as the start of a two-year $257 million renovation to the facility.
But Grenell said the honors will not be canceled during the center’s closure.
“It will definitely go forward,” he said. “It will probably just be in a smaller venue, which just means ticket demand will be even higher. This year’s honors, we raised more money and had more ticket demand than ever before.”
While Grenell said the new location is “yet to be determined,” the name of the event is certain: “The Trump Kennedy Center Honors.”