Trump Personally Awards 2025 Kennedy Center Honors in Oval Office, Breaking Tradition
In a historic move, President Donald Trump presented the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals during a Saturday ceremony in the Oval Office. He described this year's class as “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned” in the award’s history.
The 2025 recipients include iconic figures across film, music, and theater: actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, rock band KISS, and actor-singer Michael Crawford.
Earlier this year, Trump reshaped the Kennedy Center’s leadership, firing its president and chairman and replacing much of the board with political allies. He now serves as the center’s chairman, making this the first year the honorees were selected under his direct influence. Trump claimed he was “about 98% involved” in the selection process a departure from the longstanding tradition of a bipartisan committee choosing honorees. The medal ceremony was also moved from the State Department to the White House.
This year’s honorees received a redesigned Tiffany & Co. medal, featuring a gold disc etched with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors on one side, and their name and the ceremony date on the reverse, hanging from a navy blue ribbon.
Trump praised each recipient:
- George Strait: “We can hardly imagine the country music phenomenon without its king of country.”
- Gloria Gaynor: “We have the disco queen, and nobody did it like Gloria Gaynor.”
- Sylvester Stallone: Called a “wonderful” and “spectacular” friend and “one of the true, great movie stars.”
- Michael Crawford: Celebrated as a “great star of Broadway” for his iconic Phantom of the Opera role.
The Kennedy Center Honors program, which features tribute speeches and performances, will be taped Sunday at the Performing Arts Center and broadcast later this month on CBS and Paramount+. Trump’s participation marks the first time a sitting president has attended the event under this revamped leadership.
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