{"id":180344,"date":"2025-12-08T03:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T03:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/180344\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T03:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T03:02:10","slug":"december-7-2025-trump-administration-news-president-hosts-kennedy-center-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/180344\/","title":{"rendered":"December 7, 2025 \u2014 Trump administration news; president hosts Kennedy Center Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kennedy<\/p>\n

\n Guests arriving at Sunday night\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony were greeted by signs of President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to overhaul<\/a> the arts complex.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some changes were minor, like newly displayed portraits of Kennedy Center board members Melania Trump, Usha Vance and President Trump, who serves as the board\u2019s chair. Other changes, like the decision to paint the center\u2019s distinctive gold-colored pillars white or reimagining the Kennedy Center programming schedule, are more transformative.\n <\/p>\n

\n But guests, honorees and officials alike praised the changes to the organization.\n <\/p>\n

\n Musician Gene Simmons, who\u2019s set to be honored<\/a> as a member of the band KISS, told reporters on the red carpet the improvements were \u201clong overdue.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEspecially since not a single cent of American taxpayer dollars [is] going to the improvements here \u2014 shut the f**k up!\u201d Simmons said, dismissing claims from critics that Trump has politicized the nation\u2019s most prominent cultural institution by inserting himself into the center\u2019s management.\n <\/p>\n

\n Actor Kelsey Grammer, who will participate in a tribute to actor Michael Crawford, took a less defensive tone, telling reporters, \u201cThe Kennedy Center now has a brighter future.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised Trump\u2019s efforts at the Kennedy Center, saying, \u201cThis place is rocking right now.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As Trump prepared to host the evening\u2014 the first time a president has done so \u2014 Burgum said he was excited to see how Trump pulled off the gig.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWith as much TV experience as President Trump has, I expect he\u2019s going to be in fine form tonight,\u201d Burgum said, touting Trump\u2019s experience with \u201cThe Apprentice.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked about possible additional changes on the horizon, including the possibility of renaming the Kennedy Center in honor of Trump, Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell declined to weigh in.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf I could predict the future, you know what I would do? I would go play the lotto, and I wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guests arriving at Sunday night\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony were greeted by signs of President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-180344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}