Kennedy Center Honors awards moved to new venue amid Trump’s onslaught

The Kennedy Center Honors will take place away from its traditional home this year for the first time in its history as the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remains in jeopardy amid Donald Trump’s ongoing battle to have it named after himself.

The Capital One Arena in Washington DC is now set to host the ceremony on 7 December, a Kennedy Center spokespersonsaid. The list of honorees this year has not yet been announced.

The ceremony has been staged in the Kennedy Center’s Opera House each year since the awards began in 1978.

The change came as the Trump administration faces challenges in Congress and the courts over its plans for Washington landmark, including the possibility of demolishing it. The Kennedy Center Honors are widely regarded as one of the leading US distinctions recognizing achievement in the performing arts.

Last month, Christopher Cooper, a US district judge, directed the Trump administration to give at least 30 days notice before taking any action toward tearing down the building. Earlier this week, the Republican senator Mike Lee blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prevented Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center without the approval of Congress.

Trump addressed the future of the center while speaking with reporters last month, threatening to tear the whole facility down. The center had abruptly closed for renovations, following cratering ticket sales amid his influence over programing there since he retook the White House, followed by a limbo.

“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” Trump said.

The dispute has involved efforts to put Trump’s name on the facility. The center’s board, whose members were largely appointed by the Republican president, had voted in December to add his name to the institution. Congress established the facility, which opened in 1971, as a memorial to President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in November 1963.

In May, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name. In his ruling, he said the venue “must be named for, and is meant to honor, President Kennedy alone”.

Last month, Trump ordered that the Kennedy Center be closed “immediately” and warned that he would cancel the planned renovation of the institution unless federal courts permitted his name to appear on the front of the building.

That move followed another vote by Trump’s handpicked board to shut down the institution’s performing arts building. The board cited financial and safety concerns in support of the decision.

Trump’s plans for the Kennedy Center have also led to protests.