Updated on: December 6, 2025 / 7:30 PM EST / CBS/AP
President Trump on Saturday presented the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office, calling the group “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class” ever assembled. This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band KISS and actor-singer Michael Crawford.
Dressed in a tuxedo, Mr. Trump praised the honorees as “incredible people” who represent the “very best in American arts and culture,” saying, “I know most of them and I’ve been a fan of all of them.” He called Stallone “one of the true, great movie stars” and “one of the great legends,” praised Crawford as a “great star of Broadway” for his lead in Phantom of the Opera, lauded Gaynor as the “disco queen,” and described KISS as an “incredible rock band.”
The president, who largely ignored the Kennedy Center and its awards during his first term, has instituted changes since returning to office in January, including ousting the board of trustees and replacing members with GOP supporters who voted him in as chair. Those moves prompted some artists to cancel performances and led to staff resignations after the White House accused the institution of being “woke” and scrutinized its finances.
Mr. Trump said he was “about 98% involved” in choosing the 2025 honorees and personally announced them at the Kennedy Center in August — a departure from past practice when honorees were announced by press release and selected by a bipartisan committee. How the selections were made this year was not clear.
At the Oval Office ceremony the president placed around each honoree’s neck a new medal designed, created and donated by jeweler Tiffany & Co., according to the Kennedy Center and the White House. The gold disc is etched on one side with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors; the reverse bears the honoree’s name and date of the ceremony. The medallion hangs from a navy-blue ribbon and replaces the larger rainbow ribbon with three gold plates that previously rested on the honoree’s shoulders and chest.
Strait, wearing a cowboy hat, was first to receive his medal. As he began to remove the hat, Mr. Trump quipped, “If you want to leave it on, you can. I think we can get it through.” Strait removed it. Songs by Gaynor and KISS played in the Rose Garden outside the Oval Office as the White House press corps waited nearby.
Mr. Trump moved the medal presentation from the traditional State Department dinner to the White House this year; he also said he would attend the taped Kennedy Center Honors program at the performing arts center on Sunday with his wife, first lady Melania Trump. The glitzy program of tribute speeches and performances will be taped for broadcast later in December on CBS and Paramount+. The president predicted the broadcast “will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done.”
The Kennedy Center Honors show has traditionally featured presidents attending in the audience; none has served as host. Mr. Trump said he looked forward to Sunday’s celebration.
