Sylvester Stallone, George Strait tapped for Kennedy Center Honors, Trump to host ceremony
The storied cultural institution, which celebrates great American talents each year, will be hosted not by a musical artist or actor, but by the center's new chairman: President Donald Trump.
Announcing the honorees for 2025, the president revealed that he had agreed to emcee the event after organizers allegedly begged him to fill the role, arguing he would bring better ratings. The show will air later this year on CBS.
"I've been asked to host. I said, 'I am the President of the United States, are you fools asking me to do that?'" he quipped, before confirming that he had agreed to take the stage, and added that he had been successful in the past when hosting the finales of his reality program "The Apprentice."
This year's honorees include a close ally of the president, as well as a disco songstress, a Broadway star and a lauded rock band. Here's a rundown of who will wear the rainbow stripes in 2025.
Trump names a new head of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in DC: himself
George Strait, Michael Crawford lead Kennedy Center noms
Trump announced George Strait as the first honoree, joking when an image of the country crooner was displayed that he hoped he still looked that good. Strait is a veteran of the genre known for his vagabond anthems and sweet love songs.
Michael Crawford, who originated the role of the phantom in Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera," was the second honoree announced. Trump has not been shy in the past about his love for the production, and revealed in his speech that he had been there the night of Crawford's 1967 Broadway debut.
"I think he's one of the greatest talents I've ever actually seen," the president said.
Trump ally Sylvester Stallone scores Kennedy Center award
Sylvester Stallone, the bawdy "Rocky" star who has aligned with the president in recent years, also scored an honor. Calling him a friend, Trump said at first he wasn't sure whether Stallone would even want to accept the award.
"Some people don't really want to be honored, they don't care," the president said, adding that the "Rambo" star had agreed to the honor and lauding his "phenomenal" wife and family.
Sylvester Stallone calls Trump 'second George Washington' and a 'mythical character'
Gloria Gaynor, KISS round off honoree list
In keeping with the culture that may have dominated the president's youth, the honoree list included disco star Gloria Gaynor and rock band KISS as the final two names.
Gaynor, who sings "I Will Survive," is the only woman on the list. She broke out in the late '70s and early '80s, bringing powerhouse vocals to the dance themes that dominated the time.
"'I Will Survive' is an unbelievable song … it's one of those few that get better every time you hear it," Trump said.
KISS, the only multi-member honoree, brought face paint and heavy metal sensibilities to the rock genre in the mid '70s.
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President Donald Trump would love cultural elites to sniff at his Kennedy Center honorees. He relished unveiling the stars he'll fete at the iconic arts center's annual gala later this year, after motorcading to the complex Wednesday through streets now patrolled, on his orders, by federal agents and army reservists. The line-up explains a lot about him, his power and why he's president. 'Rocky' star Sylvester Stallone, Broadway legend Michael Crawford, disco icon Gloria Gaynor, country crooner George Strait and glam rock band KISS are more populist than 'high' culture. That's not to say that they are unworthy. Who could argue that Stallone didn't leave an 'indelible' mark on his art form? That's one of the criteria for selecting nominees. And Kennedy Center honorees have been trending toward the popular arts for decades, under presidents of both parties. As always, Trump was setting a trap for his political foes. Any criticism of his choices as too lowbrow or undeserving will only bolster his claims to be a scourge of the establishment and endear him more to supporters who lionize him as the ultimate outsider. Trump's critics see his takeover of the Kennedy Center and his efforts to destroy progressive values in the arts, the universities and elsewhere as cultural warfare. He pretty much agrees, proclaiming that he'd scrubbed his list for 'wokesters.' He admitted he'd even considered using his newly seized power over the citadel of American cultural life to honor himself. No wonder critics — including, no doubt, many liberal Kennedy Center subscribers, given the capital region's progressive lean — perceive a would-be authoritarian who wants to dominate and dictate every aspect of American life. Presidents don't generally select honorees. You'd think the world's most powerful man would have bigger fish to fry. Most commanders in chief just throw a White House reception and turn up for the show. 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Trump's base voters, and many other conservatives, believe that liberal elites spent decades cementing an ideological takeover of multiple areas of US life — in the arts, the media, academia, and even in sports — and dragged them to the left. The anger of millions of Americans about this pulsated from Trump's rallies in three consecutive campaigns. Voters gravitated toward a candidate who was mocked for his brassy ways by sophisticated Manhattanites. This is why Hillary Clinton's ill-judged insult of Trump supporters in 2016 as 'deplorables' became a badge of honor and a source of power for the president. When Trump's critics bemoan what they see as a takeover of top political and cultural institutions, his fans think he's taking those entities back. On conservative media, hosts lash out at movie stars for demeaning Hollywood with progressive views, or socially conscious NFL or NBA stars for 'ruining sports.' Previously, Kennedy Center honorees were chosen by a nominally bipartisan panel of arts and entertainment industry luminaries. But try convincing a conservative that these judges were free of bias, since they were drawn from the liberal arts milieu that Trump is seeking to destroy by taking over the Kennedy Center. Trump celebrated his dominance of yet another liberal bastion by admitting he was politicizing it — in another show of his unchecked power. 'I shouldn't make this political because they made the Academy Awards political, and they went down the tubes,' he said. The president went on, 'So they'll say, 'Trump made it political,' but I think if we make it our kind of political, we'll go up, OK?' But while Trump aimed for levity, his actions are threatening. On its own, his takeover of the Kennedy Center would be unusual, even a little bizarre. Taken against the backdrop of everything else he's doing, it's more worrying. He's weaponized the Justice Department against his political enemies, including members of the Obama administration. Trump's federalizing of the Washington, DC, police and deployment of the National Guard on the capital's streets and endless offensives against judges mirror the tactics of authoritarian rulers. The administration plans to scrub exhibits at the Smithsonian so they don't conflict with Trump's hardline views ahead of America's 250th birthday next year. His attempts to control the curricula of elite universities and his attacks on the media along with his dominance of the Kennedy Center make it feel like he's trying to control what Americans see, learn and even do in their leisure time. It's easy to believe that Trump chose the honorees himself because they all reflect aspects of his own character and experience. Stallone plays rough guys like John J. Rambo and Rocky Balboa, who trampled political correctness. It's not hard to see that Trump sees himself in them. 'He's a little bit tough, a little bit different, I will tell you. He's a little, tough guy,' Trump said, noting that Stallone, too, has his star in cement in Hollywood. 'In fact, the only way that's a bigger name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, they say, is a guy named Donald Trump.' Strait is a massive recording star known as the 'King of Country' and a titan of rural America whose traditional sound evokes the kind of down-home appeal that Trump seeks to emulate. Crawford, who starred in the original London and Broadway productions of 'Phantom of the Opera,' shows the president's affinity for musicals. Like Trump, the show was big in New York in the 1980s. And the score, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was considered mass market by trendy elites, while being widely popular among the masses. Crawford is also famous for another role — PT Barnum, a 19th-century showman, impresario, businessman and ring master whose carnival-barker style foretold Trump's. 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Any criticism of his choices as too lowbrow or undeserving will only bolster his claims to be a scourge of the establishment and endear him more to supporters who lionize him as the ultimate outsider. Trump's critics see his takeover of the Kennedy Center and his efforts to destroy progressive values in the arts, the universities and elsewhere as cultural warfare. He pretty much agrees, proclaiming that he'd scrubbed his list for 'wokesters.' He admitted he'd even considered using his newly seized power over the citadel of American cultural life to honor himself. No wonder critics — including, no doubt, many liberal Kennedy Center subscribers, given the capital region's progressive lean — perceive a would-be authoritarian who wants to dominate and dictate every aspect of American life. Presidents don't generally select honorees. You'd think the world's most powerful man would have bigger fish to fry. Most commanders in chief just throw a White House reception and turn up for the show. But Trump is a ravenous consumer of pop culture and is unusually skilled at leveraging it for political gain. He's the executive producer of his own life and political career. So there was no chance he'd pass up a chance to stage-manage this show — and even plans to host the televised gala himself. He professed to have been press-ganged into it by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. She probably didn't have to twist his arm for too long. More seriously, Trump's Kennedy Center Honors will also represent another important victory for his 'Make America Great Again' movement and his hostile takeover of Washington institutions. 'I would say I was about 98 percent involved,' Trump said, of the selection process. 'No, they all went through me … I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I turned them — I had a couple of wokesters.' There's an important political dimension to this. Trump's base voters, and many other conservatives, believe that liberal elites spent decades cementing an ideological takeover of multiple areas of US life — in the arts, the media, academia, and even in sports — and dragged them to the left. The anger of millions of Americans about this pulsated from Trump's rallies in three consecutive campaigns. Voters gravitated toward a candidate who was mocked for his brassy ways by sophisticated Manhattanites. This is why Hillary Clinton's ill-judged insult of Trump supporters in 2016 as 'deplorables' became a badge of honor and a source of power for the president. When Trump's critics bemoan what they see as a takeover of top political and cultural institutions, his fans think he's taking those entities back. On conservative media, hosts lash out at movie stars for demeaning Hollywood with progressive views, or socially conscious NFL or NBA stars for 'ruining sports.' Previously, Kennedy Center honorees were chosen by a nominally bipartisan panel of arts and entertainment industry luminaries. But try convincing a conservative that these judges were free of bias, since they were drawn from the liberal arts milieu that Trump is seeking to destroy by taking over the Kennedy Center. Trump celebrated his dominance of yet another liberal bastion by admitting he was politicizing it — in another show of his unchecked power. 'I shouldn't make this political because they made the Academy Awards political, and they went down the tubes,' he said. The president went on, 'So they'll say, 'Trump made it political,' but I think if we make it our kind of political, we'll go up, OK?' But while Trump aimed for levity, his actions are threatening. On its own, his takeover of the Kennedy Center would be unusual, even a little bizarre. Taken against the backdrop of everything else he's doing, it's more worrying. He's weaponized the Justice Department against his political enemies, including members of the Obama administration. Trump's federalizing of the Washington, DC, police and deployment of the National Guard on the capital's streets and endless offensives against judges mirror the tactics of authoritarian rulers. The administration plans to scrub exhibits at the Smithsonian so they don't conflict with Trump's hardline views ahead of America's 250th birthday next year. His attempts to control the curricula of elite universities and his attacks on the media along with his dominance of the Kennedy Center make it feel like he's trying to control what Americans see, learn and even do in their leisure time. It's easy to believe that Trump chose the honorees himself because they all reflect aspects of his own character and experience. Stallone plays rough guys like John J. Rambo and Rocky Balboa, who trampled political correctness. It's not hard to see that Trump sees himself in them. 'He's a little bit tough, a little bit different, I will tell you. He's a little, tough guy,' Trump said, noting that Stallone, too, has his star in cement in Hollywood. 'In fact, the only way that's a bigger name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, they say, is a guy named Donald Trump.' Strait is a massive recording star known as the 'King of Country' and a titan of rural America whose traditional sound evokes the kind of down-home appeal that Trump seeks to emulate. Crawford, who starred in the original London and Broadway productions of 'Phantom of the Opera,' shows the president's affinity for musicals. Like Trump, the show was big in New York in the 1980s. And the score, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was considered mass market by trendy elites, while being widely popular among the masses. Crawford is also famous for another role — PT Barnum, a 19th-century showman, impresario, businessman and ring master whose carnival-barker style foretold Trump's. 'Barnum's' most famous number is 'There's a sucker born ev'ry minute' and sums up the business philosophy of a hero remembered for publicity stunts and hoaxes that blurred truth and reality. Sound familiar? KISS, a band with a catalogue of platinum albums, is also known for over-the-top stagecraft. And there's no better anthem for Trump's life of personal, business and political scandals that almost but never quite destroy him than Gaynor's biggest hit: 'I Will Survive.'
