President Donald Trump said he will host the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors program. The event will be recorded Sunday for airing on Dec. 23 on CBS.
Trump will be the first sitting president to host the awards.
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“It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen,” Trump told reporters at a State Department dinner on Saturday.
Sunday’s event will also mark Trump’s first time attending the ceremony. He and First Lady Melania Trump skipped the event during his first term after producer Norman Lear threatened a boycott in protest.
Change in venue for medal presentation
Earlier in the evening the president presented medals to the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees during a ceremony in the Oval Office. This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford. In the past, the honorees would receive their awards at the dinner, but Trump moved the ceremony to the White House.
This year’s medal was designed by jeweler Tiffany & Co. The medal is a gold disc etched on one side with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors. The honoree’s name appears on the reverse side with the date of the ceremony.
Political shakeup behind the scenes
This year’s awards come on the heels of a leadership shakeup at the Kennedy Center. In February, Trump fired the longtime director, ousted several Biden-appointed board members and named himself chairman — replacing them with his own picks.
The President has also criticized the center’s programming and actual appearance of the center. Last January he vowed to overhaul both.
