Trump Shakes Up Kennedy Center Honors with Star-Studded Picks
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors announcement turned into a headline-maker when President Trump revealed a lineup of honorees that includes country legend George Strait, Broadway powerhouse Michael Crawford, Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, disco queen Gloria Gaynor, and the rock supergroup KISS. Normally, the selection is a months-long, bipartisan process led by the Kennedy Center board, with input from the public and past honorees. But Trump said he was “very involved” this time — something that hasn’t been done in recent memory — and admitted to vetoing “a couple of wokesters” the board had suggested, although he insisted the final picks weren’t chosen for political reasons.
The announcement, made at a press conference at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., reportedly caught staff by surprise. In fact, executive producer Matthew Winer resigned the day before, shortly after hearing the honorees had already been chosen. The December 7 gala will follow tradition with a weekend of events, including a State Department dinner, a White House reception, and a glittering performance night at the Kennedy Center, to be broadcast later on CBS and Paramount+.
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Trump spoke warmly about each honoree. George Strait was celebrated for his unparalleled career in country music — 60 number-one hits, more than 120 million albums sold, and decades of philanthropy, especially for veterans and children’s causes. Michael Crawford’s Tony Award-winning turn as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera was praised as one of Broadway’s defining performances. Sylvester Stallone was lauded as a cultural icon whose “Rocky” and “Rambo” characters embodied grit and perseverance. Gloria Gaynor was honored for not only her disco anthem I Will Survive — a song inducted into the National Recording Registry — but also her continued musical achievements, including a Grammy-winning gospel album in 2020. And KISS was recognized for their decades of rock dominance, selling over 100 million records and earning a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This year’s selection comes amid sweeping changes to the Kennedy Center under Trump’s second term. Earlier in 2025, he replaced the entire Board of Trustees, removed longtime chair David Rubenstein, and ousted president Deborah Rutter. A new law he signed — nicknamed the “Big Beautiful Bill” — boosted the center’s federal funding to $257 million, six times the usual amount, with an additional $32 million approved by House Republicans under the condition that the Opera House be renamed for First Lady Melania Trump. Another bill has even been floated to rename the Kennedy Center after Trump himself.
In recent months, the administration has also pushed for changes in other cultural institutions, ordering a review of the Smithsonian museums for “divisive” content and proposing cuts to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. But for now, the focus is on December’s gala — and on a group of honorees whose names, and legacies, are already carved into the story of American entertainment.
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