Updated on: December 8, 2025 / 12:52 AM EST / CBS/AP
President Trump on Sunday hosted the Kennedy Center Honors after presenting the 2025 honorees with their medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office on Saturday, calling the group “legendary in so many ways.”
“Billions and billions of people have watched them over the years,” Mr. Trump, who became the first president to take the stage rather than sit in an opera house box, said to open the show.
This year’s recipients were actor Sylvester Stallone; singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait; the rock band Kiss; and actor-singer Michael Crawford. Mr. Trump praised them as “among the greatest artists and actors, performers, musicians, singers, songwriters ever to walk the face of the Earth.”
On Saturday, he called the honorees, whom he said he was deeply involved in choosing, “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class” ever assembled. “They’re incredible people” who represent the “very best in American arts and culture,” he said, adding, “I know most of them and I’ve been a fan of all of them.”
Asked how he had prepared for hosting, Mr. Trump replied he “didn’t really prepare very much.” “If you look at the great hosts, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, those are the greats,” he said, while disparaging previous host Jimmy Kimmel. “You want to be just loose and not a lot to prepare for. You have to be yourself,” he added.
“I have a good memory, so I can remember things, which is very fortunate,” the president said. “But just, I wanted to just be myself. You have to be yourself. Johnny Carson, he was himself.”
Mr. Trump assumed a role that in past years has been filled by figures such as Walter Cronkite and Stephen Colbert. Before his appearance, presidents typically watched the show from the audience. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among cabinet members attending, said he was looking forward to Mr. Trump’s hosting. “Oh, this president, he is so relaxed in front of these cameras, as you know, and so funny, I can’t wait for tonight,” Lutnick said as he arrived with his wife, a Kennedy Center board member.
(Photo caption: President Donald Trump, left, speaks as he presents Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford with their Kennedy Center Honors medals in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Washington. — Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP)
Mr. Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show and told honorees at a State Department dinner Saturday that he was doing so “at the request of a certain television network.” He predicted the Dec. 23 broadcast on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ would have its best ratings ever.
Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors have recognized artists for their influence on American culture and the arts. This class includes pop-culture figures: Stallone for “Rocky” and “Rambo,” Gaynor for the anthem “I Will Survive,” Kiss for their makeup and stage pyrotechnics, country superstar George Strait, and Tony-winning actor Michael Crawford. Mr. Trump said persistence is a common trait among them.
“Some of them have had legendary setbacks, setbacks that you have to read in the papers because of their level of fame,” he said. “But in the words of Rocky Balboa, they showed us that you keep moving forward, just keep moving forward.” He added a quip aimed at parts of the audience: “I know so many of you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. You are persistent. You never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.”
The ceremony was expected to be emotional for Kiss: original lead guitarist Ace Frehley died in October after a fall. Gene Simmons said on the red carpet that the president had assured there would be an empty chair to honor Frehley.
Stallone described being honored as feeling like “the eye of a hurricane.” “This is an amazing event,” he said. “But you’re caught up in the middle of it. It’s hard to take it in until the next day … but I’m incredibly humbled by it.” Crawford called the recognition “humbling, especially at the end of a career.” Gaynor said it “feels like a dream” and that being recognized in this way is “the pinnacle.” Gospel singer Mike Farris, performing for Gaynor, said she is a dear friend and noted, “She truly did survive. What an iconic song.”
Actor Neil McDonough, who said he would present Stallone’s award, called Stallone’s recognition long overdue for his writing and acting and praised Stallone personally.
Past honorees have spanned dance, theater, film and music, from Martha Graham and Stephen Sondheim to Meryl Streep and Bob Dylan.
Mr. Trump’s involvement with the Kennedy Center has been controversial. He ousted the center’s leadership, stacked the board of trustees with Republican supporters who then elected him chair, criticized programming and the building’s appearance, and joked about renaming it the “Trump Kennedy Center.” He secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations.
Presidents have at times sat across from artists with opposing views: Ronald Reagan honored Arthur Miller, a liberal playwright; Bill Clinton honored Charlton Heston, a gun rights advocate. During Mr. Trump’s first term, several honorees openly criticized him; producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott if Mr. Trump attended, and Mr. Trump stayed away during that term.
Mr. Trump said he was deeply involved in selecting the 2025 honorees and rejected some recommendations as “too woke.” Stallone is one of Mr. Trump’s Hollywood “special ambassadors” and has likened Mr. Trump to George Washington; the political views of the other honorees are less clear. Strait and Gaynor have largely remained private about politics, though campaign records show Gaynor has donated to Republican organizations in recent years. Simmons supported Mr. Trump in 2016 but later criticized him in 2022. Paul Stanley of Kiss condemned Mr. Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election and called Jan. 6 rioters “terrorists,” though after the 2024 election he urged unity and acceptance of results.
In recent decades, the Kennedy Center Honors have continued to reflect a wide range of artistic disciplines and political opinions, even as the role of the presidency and political tensions intersect with cultural recognition.