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Naomi Lim


NextImg:Stallone, KISS, and Strait: Trump names Kennedy Center honorees - Washington Examiner

President Donald Trump has announced the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees, whose contributions to art and culture will be commemorated in a ceremony hosted by the president later this year.

Golden Globe award-winning Rocky and Rambo action movie star Sylvester Stallone, monochromic face-painted rock band KISS, “King of Country” singer-songwriter George Strait, “I Will Survive” disco queen Gloria Gaynor, and original Phantom of the Opera English performer Michael Crawford are this year’s honorees, Trump said Wednesday at the Kennedy Center.

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“The 48th Kennedy Center honorees are outstanding people,” Trump said. “We can’t wait to celebrate the Kennedy Center Honors. It’ll be in December. It’ll be on CBS in a few short months.”

During his remarks, Trump underscored his reforms to the Kennedy Center since becoming the institution’s chairman in February and appointing ally Ric Grenell as its president and executive director. His reforms to the Kennedy Center come after the institution became a beacon of political resistance during his first administration, with artists at the time stating they would not attend the awards ceremony in protest.

“We have completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution,” the president said. “It was being run down. Money wasn’t being spent properly. They were building things they shouldn’t have built, that nobody wanted, instead of taking care of the great gem that it is.”

He added: “We ended the woke political programming, and we’re restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world.”

After Trump repeated his complaints about Democrats, he appeared to have a moment of self-reflection, saying that he should not make his remarks political before seeming to change his mind.

“They made the Academy Awards political and they went down the tubes,” he said. “I think if we make it our kind of political, we’ll go up. Let’s see if I am right about that.”

Trump went on to promote this week’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s law enforcement, prompted by an alleged assault on a former Department of Government Efficiency engineer known as “Big Balls” during a carjacking.

“You will see a big change in Washington crime stats soon,” he said. “People are feeling safe already. I’ve had so many calls. ‘Thank you, sir, thank you.’ They were afraid to walk out. They’re not afraid anymore.”

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During his opening remarks, Trump also quipped about never being honored by the Kennedy Center for his former reality TV show, The Apprentice.

“Since 1978, the Kennedy Center honors have been amongst the most prestigious awards in the performing arts. I wanted one. I was never able to get one,” he said. “I would have taken it. I waited, and waited, and waited, and I said, ‘To hell with it, I’ll become chairman. I will give myself an honor.’ Next year we’ll honor Trump, okay?”