The Kennedy Center Honors Will Continue — With a New Location and Name

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The Kennedy Center Honors will continue in a new location and with a new name while the Performing Arts Center is closed for renovations, President Richard Grenell told Washington’s WTOP news radio.

“It will definitely go forward,” Grenell said. “It will probably just be in a smaller venue, which just means ticket demand will be even higher.”

Grenell added the location “is yet to be determined” and that “we’re already looking for different places.”

President Donald Trump, who appointed the board and serves as the board chairman, changed the venue name to the Trump Kennedy Center and recently announced that he would shutter the facility for up to two years for renovations. Many artists have canceled their appearances in protest of the name change.

In addition to the venue change, the awards ceremony will now bear the current president’s name and be known as the “Trump Kennedy Center Honors.”

The 48th Kennedy Center Honors took place in December, and was hosted by  none other than Trump himself. He also chose the recipients: Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, and Michael Crawford.

According to The Washington Post, “The 2025 Honors themselves boasted a much smaller roster of A-list Hollywood names than previous years, and the ratings dropped by 25 percent year-over-year, making it the least-watched Honors ceremony in history.”

When asked about his renovation plans, Trump said they will probably cost around “$200 million” because the building is “in very bad shape.”

“You know, we’re fully-financed,” Trump added without saying where the money was coming from.

Grenell recently accused Democrats of coordinating a campaign against the Center in the wake of a “toxic chemical” attack on the outdoor ice rink.

He wrote on X, “This is so sad & unnecessary – @TheDemocrats have been calling artists urging them to cancel and attacking the Center non-stop. It’s a calculated campaign.”

He continued, “And now they have mentally unstable people taking action – and vandalizing the Center. We’ve seen serious death threats and constant harassment. Commonsense Democrats must speak up before this violence takes a life.”

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