Washington — President Trump introduced this 12 months’s listing of Kennedy Middle Honorees throughout a go to to the Kennedy Middle on Aug. 13, after his administration took steps to overtake the D.C. cultural establishment in latest months. The Kennedy Middle Honors ceremony airs on CBS and Paramount+ on Dec. 23.
“This is a very exciting project,” Mr. Trump stated. “We’re going to do something that will go rapidly, relatively inexpensively, and we’ll make it better than it ever was.”
The president stated he was “delighted to be here as we officially announce the incredible talented artists who will be celebrated later this year at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.” He added that he had been requested to host the forty eighth annual Honors this 12 months: “I have agreed to host — do you believe what I have to do?”
The president then introduced the honorees, saying the board chosen a “truly exceptional class” this 12 months.
2025 Kennedy Middle Honorees
George Strait
George Strait performs onstage at at a profit for Hill Nation flood victims on July 27, 2025 in Boerne, Texas.
Erika Goldring/Getty Photos for Strait To The Coronary heart
Nation music star George Strait, generally known as the “King of Country Music,” has been performing for over 30 years. He has 60 No. 1 nation singles, greater than every other artist in any style, has bought 120 million data and produced 33 platinum albums, greater than every other artist. “He’s beloved by hundreds of millions of people all over the world,” the president stated of Strait.
Michael Crawford
File: Michael Crawford
AP Photograph
Actor and singer Michael Crawford was the unique Tony Award-winning “Phantom of the Opera” when the present opened on Broadway in 1988. “I think he’s one of the greatest talents I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump stated.
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone is seen on the set of “Tusla King” in Little Italy on April 16, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
James Devaney/GC Photos
Actor, director and bodybuilder Sylvester Stallone’s Hollywood profession spans over 5 a long time — he’s finest recognized for the position of boxer Rocky Balboa within the blockbuster hits “Rocky” and its 5 sequels, which he wrote and starred in. He additionally performed John Rambo, a soldier with PTSD, in 5 movies. Mr. Trump referred to him as “a friend of mine” and “a real talent — never been given credit for the talent.”
Gloria Gaynor
File: Gloria Gaynor on June 2, 2025.
Heidi Gutman/American Broadcasting Corporations, Inc. by way of Getty Photos
Disco star Gloria Gaynor is finest recognized for her anthem “I Will Survive,” a tune Mr. Trump stated he’s heard “thousands of times.” “It’s one of those few that get better every time you hear it,” he stated.
KISS
KISS performs in Munich on June 17, 2023. L-R: Singer and bassist Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and singer and guitarist Paul Stanley.
Sven Hoppe/image alliance by way of Getty Photos
The rock band KISS was shaped in 1973 in New York Metropolis by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. With their face paint and elaborate performances that includes pyrotechnics and hearth respiration, they grew to become a popular culture phenomenon within the Nineteen Seventies. The president referred to the band as “one of the greatest rock bands of all time” and famous it has bought over 100 million albums worldwide.
“The 48th Kennedy Center Honorees are outstanding people, an outstanding group — incredible,” Mr. Trump stated. “We can’t wait to celebrate the Kennedy Center Honors.”
President Trump declares the annual Kennedy Middle Honorees, together with singer Gloria Gaynor and members of the rock band KISS, throughout an occasion on the Kennedy Middle on Aug. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Photos
The Kennedy Middle previewed the announcement Tuesday, writing in a put up on X: “A country music icon, an Englishman, a New York City Rock band, a dance Queen and a multi-billion dollar Actor walk into the Kennedy Center Opera House…”
The Kennedy Middle Honors, a televised gala, happen yearly in December. The Kennedy Middle Honors ceremony is directed and produced by CBS and airs on the community.
Final 12 months’s honorees included singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Useless, composer Arturo Sandoval and the Apollo Theater.
Trump period on the Kennedy Middle
In latest months, the president and his allies have broadened their affect over the Kennedy Middle. After the White Home accused the establishment of being “woke” and scrutinized its funds earlier this 12 months, Mr. Trump ousted Kennedy Middle board members appointed by former President Joe Biden, changing them along with his allies. Quickly afterward, the brand new board changed the middle’s chairman, David Rubenstein, with Mr. Trump, and Richard Grenell grew to become the Kennedy Middle’s interim president.
The Kennedy Middle was designated by Congress as a dwelling memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964.
Together with efforts to reshape the middle’s governing physique and performances, the president outlined throughout a go to to the famed opera home in March that “we’re going to make a lot of changes — including the seats, the decor — pretty much everything. It needs a lot of work.” In July, Home Republicans superior a measure that may rename the Kennedy Middle’s opera home after first woman Melania Trump.
The president stated Wednesday that within the months since he grew to become chairman, “we have completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution,” claiming “it was being run down” and “money wasn’t spent properly.”
“With a little fix-up and a little work, we can make it unbelievable,” the president stated of the area. “The bones are so good.”
In a put up on Fact Social on Tuesday, Mr. Trump stated work is being completed to deliver the Kennedy Middle “back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment.”
The president, who broke with custom throughout his first time period by skipping the Honors reveals after a number of award recipients criticized him, touted the “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS.”
The president on Wednesday additionally talked about one other venture — a White Home renovation — and his effort to “fix up” Washington, D.C., together with the deployment of federal regulation enforcement and the Nationwide Guard within the District of Columbia this week to handle crime.
“I’m determined to make Washington safe, clean and beautiful again,” he stated.
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