Tom Cruise snubs Donald Trump's Kennedy Center Honor citing scheduling conflicts
The Mission: Impossible star was offered the award, which 'recognises and celebrates individuals whose unique artistic contributions have shaped our world,' but reportedly turned it down due to scheduling conflicts.
President Donald Trump announced the 2025 honourees on Wednesday from the Kennedy Center's Hall of Nations.
This year's recipients are rock band KISS, stage actor Michael Crawford, singer Gloria Gaynor, country artist George Strait, and actor Sylvester Stallone.
Trump also admitted he had long wanted the accolade himself and claimed to be 'about 98 percent involved' in the selection process, rejecting some candidates he did not personally approve of.
In a significant change, Trump will host the December 7 ceremony, which will air on CBS and later stream on Paramount+.
Meanwhile, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in June that Cruise will receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards on November 16 alongside actress Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas.
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Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Express Tribune
Trump told Zelenskiy after summit that Putin wants more of Ukraine, source says
Russia has been gradually advancing for months. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both US President Donald Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not", after hosting a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land. In a subsequent briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a source familiar with the discussion cited Trump as saying the Russian leader had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv's forces ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow's main targets. Zelenskiy rejected the demand, the source said. Russia already controls a fifth of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk province, which it first entered in 2014. Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have demanded. Zelenskiy said he would meet Trump in Washington on Monday, while Kyiv's European allies welcomed Trump's efforts but vowed to back Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia. The source said European leaders had also been invited to attend those talks. Read More: Zelenskiy to visit Washington after Trump-Putin talks yield no result on Ukraine Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, lasted just three hours. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump posted on Truth Social. Russia likely to welcome Trump's comments His various comments on the meeting mostly aligned with the public positions of Moscow, which says it wants a full settlement - not a pause - but that this will be complex because positions are "diametrically opposed". Russia has been gradually advancing for months. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Before the summit, Trump had said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on. But afterwards he said that, after Monday's talks with Zelenskiy, "if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin". Those talks will evoke memories of a meeting in the White House Oval Office in February, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave Zelenskiy a brutal public dressing-down. Zelenskiy said he was willing to meet Putin. But Putin signalled no movement in Russia's long-held demands, which also include a veto on membership of the NATO alliance, and made no mention in public of meeting Zelenskiy. His aide Yuri Ushakov said a three-way summit had not been discussed. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump signalled that he and Putin had discussed land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, and had "largely agreed". "I think we're pretty close to a deal," he said, adding: "Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say 'no'." Asked what he would advise Zelenskiy to do, Trump said: "Gotta make a deal." "Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not," he added. Graphic: Map of Ukraine shows the eastern oblasts and the areas under Russian control Graphic: Map of Ukraine shows the eastern oblasts and the areas under Russian control Need for security guarantees for Ukraine Zelenskiy has consistently said he cannot concede territory without changes to Ukraine's constitution, and Kyiv sees Donetsk's "fortress cities" such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk as a bulwark against Russian advances into even more regions. Read More: Ukraine peace at stake as Trump hosts Putin Zelenskiy has also insisted on security guarantees, to deter Russia from invading again in the future. He said he and Trump had discussed "positive signals from the American side" on taking part, and that Ukraine needed a lasting peace, not "just another pause" between Russian invasions. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the most interesting developments concerned security guarantees - inspired by NATO's Article 5. "The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the USA, ready to take action in case it is attacked again," she said. Putin, who has hitherto opposed involving foreign ground forces, said he agreed with Trump that Ukraine's security must be "ensured". "I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine," Putin told a briefing where neither leader took questions. "We expect that Kyiv and the European capitals ... will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress..." For Putin, the very fact of sitting down with Trump represented a victory. He had been ostracised by Western leaders since the start of the war, and just a week earlier had faced a threat of new sanctions from Trump. '1-0 for Putin' Trump also spoke to European leaders after returning to Washington. Several stressed the need to keep pressure on Russia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said an end to the war was closer than ever, thanks to Trump, but added: "... until (Putin) stops his barbaric assault, we will keep tightening the screws on his war machine with even more sanctions." A statement from European leaders said "Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees" and that no limits should be placed on its armed forces or right to seek NATO membership - key Russian demands. Some European politicians and commentators were scathing. "Putin got his red carpet treatment with Trump, while Trump got nothing. As feared: no ceasefire, no peace," Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to Washington, posted on X. "No real progress – a clear 1-0 for Putin – no new sanctions. For the Ukrainians: nothing. For Europe: deeply disappointing." Both Russia and Ukraine carried out overnight air attacks, a daily occurrence, while fighting raged on the front. Trump told Fox he would postpone imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil, but that he might have to "think about it" in two or three weeks. He ended his remarks after the summit by telling Putin: "We'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon." "Next time in Moscow," a smiling Putin responded in English. Trump said he might "get a little heat on that one" but that he could "possibly see it happening".
Express Tribune
6 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Moscow hails Alaska summit as victory for Russia's Ukraine narrative
In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine. "The meeting in Alaska confirmed Russia's desire for peace, long-term and fair," said Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. He portrayed the summit as a coup for Russia and a loss for Ukraine and its European allies, who have been pushing for an unconditional ceasefire. "The tasks of the SMO will be accomplished either by military or diplomatic means," Klishas wrote, using the acronym for Special Military Operation, the Kremlin's term for the war. "A new architecture for European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it." The highly-anticipated summit on Friday in Anchorage yielded no agreement to resolve or pause the conflict, now in its fourth year, although both Putin and US President Donald Trump described the talks as productive. Read More: Russia readying nuclear-powered cruise missile test The two men met for nearly three hours before giving a brief media appearance and boarding separate planes home. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president known for his hawkish views, said the summit proved that it was possible to hold talks without conditions - as Moscow has insisted - while the fighting in Ukraine rages on. Russia's flagship Channel One morning state news bulletin on Saturday stressed the pageantry around the summit, its global profile, and the warm welcome extended to Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "The Red carpet, handshakes and footage and photographs that are in all global publications and TV channels," it said, saying it was the first time that Trump had met a visiting leader off their plane at the airport. Its correspondent in Alaska said the two leaders had obviously agreed about a lot of things, but did not say what those things were. "The very fact of the meeting in Alaska, its tone, and its outcome represent a significant and joint success for both presidents, each of whom made a tremendous personal contribution to achieving the best possible result at this time," Konstantin Kosachyov, a chair of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram. Also Read: At least 11 dead, over 100 injured in factory blast in Russia Other commentators struck a sourer tone. Writing for War Gonzo, a pro-war Telegram channel with over 800,000 subscribers, one blogger praised Putin's remarks as "quite strong", but added that the meeting had delivered no visible outcomes beyond the mere fact that it took place. "What will happen next? If our strikes on Ukrainian regime targets resume, Trump will have a reason to declare once again that 'Putin is talking nonsense' and to impose sanctions and interrupt the negotiation process that has begun," wrote the blogger, Old Miner.
Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business Recorder
US proposed NATO-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv: source
KYIV: The US has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to – but separate from – those enjoyed by NATO member countries, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday. The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders earlier on Saturday, the source said. 'As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin,' the diplomatic source said on condition they not be identified in any way. NATO's collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence. Trump says Ukraine needs to make a deal after summit with Putin ends without ceasefire Trump, Zelensky and European leaders – who included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte – spoke early Saturday to discuss Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin held on Friday in Alaska. Before that joint call, Trump also had a call with Zelensky as flew back from Alaska. 'The American side voiced this (joint security proposal) during a conversation with the president (Zelensky) and then repeated it during a joint conversation with the Europeans,' the diplomatic source said. Another source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the NATO-like guarantees had been discussed. But that source added: 'No-one knows how this could work and why Putin would agree to it if he is categorically against NATO and obviously against really effective guarantees of Ukraine's sovereignty.' Kyiv has long aspired to join NATO – but Russia has given that as one of its reasons for its war in Ukraine, and some Western circles have expressed resistance to the idea. Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance. Zelensky is due in Washington on Monday for talks with Trump. The second source told AFP that Zelensky is to discuss what form a possible Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would have, the role of Kyiv's European allies in peace talks, territories, and security guarantees.
