{"id":7218,"date":"2025-12-07T00:14:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T00:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/trump-kennedy-center-honors-kiss-george-straight-1236130063\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T00:14:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T00:14:37","slug":"trump-kennedy-center-honors-kiss-george-straight-1236130063","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/trump-kennedy-center-honors-kiss-george-straight-1236130063\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Presents KISS, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor & More Kennedy Center Honorees With Medals in Oval\u00a0Office"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tPresident\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0on Saturday (Dec. 6) presented the\u00a02025 Kennedy Center honorees\u00a0with their medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office, hailing the slate of artists he was deeply involved in choosing as \u201cperhaps the most accomplished and renowned class\u201d ever assembled.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor<\/a> and George Strait<\/a>, the rock band KISS<\/a> and actor-singer Michael Crawford.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump said they are a group of \u201cincredible people\u201d who represent the \u201cvery best in American arts and culture\u201d and that \u201cI know most of them and I\u2019ve been a fan of all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans,\u201d said a tuxedo-clad Trump. \u201cThis is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrump\u2019s takeover of the Kennedy Center\t<\/h4>\n

\n\tTrump ignored the Kennedy Center and its premier awards program during his first term as president. But the Republican has instituted a series of changes since returning to office in January, most notably\u00a0ousting its board of trustees\u00a0and replacing them with GOP supporters who voted him in as chairman of the board.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump also has criticized the center\u2019s programming and its physical appearance, and has\u00a0vowed to overhaul both.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe president placed around each honoree\u2019s neck a new medal that was designed, created and donated by jeweler Tiffany & Co., according to the Kennedy Center and Trump.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a gold disc etched on one side with the Kennedy Center\u2019s image and rainbow colors. The honoree\u2019s name appears on the reverse side with the date of the ceremony. The medallion hangs from a navy blue ribbon and replaces a large rainbow ribbon decorated with three gold plates that rested on the honoree\u2019s shoulders and chest.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrump honors the honorees\t<\/h4>\n

\n\tStrait, wearing a cowboy hat, was first to receive his medal. When the country singer started to take off the hat, Trump said, \u201cIf you want to leave it on, you can. I think we can get it through.\u201d But Strait took it off.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe president said Crawford was a \u201cgreat star of Broadway\u201d for his lead role in the long-running Phantom of the Opera<\/em>. Of Gaynor, he said, \u201cWe have the disco queen, and she was indeed, and nobody did it like Gloria Gaynor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump was effusive about his friend Stallone, calling him a \u201cwonderful\u201d and \u201cspectacular\u201d person and \u201cone of the true, great movie stars\u201d and \u201cone of the great legends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKISS is an \u201cincredible rock band,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSongs by honorees Gaynor and KISS played in the Rose Garden just outside the Oval Office as members of the White House press corps waited nearby for Trump to begin the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe president said in August that he was \u201cabout 98% involved\u201d in choosing the 2025 honorees when he personally announced them at the Kennedy Center, the first slate chosen under his leadership. The honorees traditionally had been announced by press release.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was unclear how they were chosen. Before Trump, it fell to a bipartisan selection committee.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThese are among the greatest artists, actors and performers of their generation. The greatest that we\u2019ve seen,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe can hardly imagine the country music phenomena without its king of country, or American disco without its first lady, or Broadway without its phantom \u2014 and that was a phantom, let me tell you \u2014 or rock and roll without its hottest band in the world, and that\u2019s what they are, or Hollywood without one of its greatest visionaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEach of you has made an indelible mark on American life and together you have defined entire genres and set new standards for the performing arts,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump was also attending an annual State Department dinner for the honorees on Saturday. In years past, the honorees received their medallions there but Trump moved the ceremony to the White House.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrump to host the Kennedy Center Honors\t<\/h4>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, the glitzy Kennedy Center Honors program and its series of tribute speeches and performances for each recipient is set to be taped on Sunday at the performing arts center for broadcast later in December on CBS and Paramount+. Trump is to attend the program for the first time as president, accompanied by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe president said in August that he had agreed to host the show, and he seemed to confirm on Saturday that he would do so, predicting that the broadcast would garner its highest ratings ever as a result. Presidents traditionally attend the program and sit with the honorees in the audience. None has ever served as host.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe said he looked forward to Sunday\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s going to be something that I believe, and I\u2019m going to make a prediction: this will be the highest-rated show that they\u2019ve ever done and they\u2019ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there\u2019s nothing like what\u2019s going to happen tomorrow night,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSee a video from Saturday night uploaded by the White House below.<\/p>\n

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