Kennedy Center Honors to be renamed as Trump-era changes continue [View all]

Source: WTOP

Kennedy Center Honors to be renamed as Trump-era changes continue

Jimmy Alexander | jimmy.alexander@wtop.com
February 24, 2026, 10:28 AM

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.

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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.”

Jimmy Alexander
Jimmy Alexander has been a part of the D.C. media scene as a reporter for DC News Now and a long-standing voice on the Jack Diamond Morning Show. Now, Alexander brings those years spent interviewing newsmakers like President Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney and Sean Connery, to the WTOP Newsroom.

jimmy.alexander@wtop.com

Read more: https://wtop.com/local/2026/02/kennedy-center-honors-to-be-renamed-as-trump-era-changes-continue/