Daniel Kreps
Contact Daniel Kreps on X Contact Daniel Kreps by Email View all posts by Daniel Kreps October 3, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
Add us as a Google Preferred Source 
Capital One Arena Scott Taetsch/Getty Images The Kennedy Center Honors will still take place in 2026, albeit at a Washington, D.C. arena, even as the performing arts venue remains closed amid the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the building.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center announced Friday that this year’s honors will take place December 7 at the Capital One Arena, home of both the Washington Wizards and Capitals. The recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors will be announced at a later date.
While CBS has been the home of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast since 1978, the spokesperson added that “the program’s broadcast partner” would also be revealed later, ABC News reported.
The annual honors ceremony appeared to be in jeopardy, especially following the news that the Kennedy Center would close for lengthy renovations, work that was tied to the president’s demand that the building legally be renamed in his honor; Trump would be unlikely to cooperate with fundraising efforts and the supposedly urgent renovations without “appropriate recognition” of his role in the project.
