{"id":336936,"date":"2025-12-08T12:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/336936\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:56:08","slug":"after-months-of-bending-the-kennedy-center-to-his-will-trump-takes-center-stage-for-the-annual-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/336936\/","title":{"rendered":"After months of bending the Kennedy Center to his will, Trump takes center stage for the annual honors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n President Donald Trump took center stage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday evening to pay tribute to the newest class of honorees<\/a>, a group of performers and entertainers whose combined work spans music, stage and film.\n <\/p>\n

\n Though the president has never been one to shy from spotlight, his turn as host for the Kennedy Center Honors\u2019 annual prerecorded telecast meant the program \u2014 and the presidency \u2014 entered unchartered waters Sunday, a fitting crescendo following months of Trump\u2019s personal interjections<\/a> into the arts center\u2019s management, entertainment program and architectural design.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis place is hot,\u201d he said in his remarks, according to reporters inside the complex\u2019s Opera House, adding he toured some of the \u201cgorgeous\u201d construction work. \u201cThe Trump-Kennedy Center,\u201d he said, before pausing for some laughter and adding, \u201cI mean, the Kennedy Center. I\u2019m sorry. This is terribly embarrassing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n By all accounts, Trump \u2014 who was elected chairman<\/a> of the Kennedy Center board after he removed Democratic-appointed trustees and installed a small cadre of loyalists in their stead \u2014 has maintained a hands-on approach to the nation\u2019s most significant cultural institution.\n <\/p>\n

\n Unveiling the list of this year\u2019s honorees in August, he said he was \u201c98% involved\u201d in picking the awardees, who would typically be determined through an artist committee, board recommendations and solicitation of the public, according to one former employee.\n <\/p>\n

\n As a result, Trump\u2019s class of Kennedy Center honorees reflects, more than anything, his own personal tastes in entertainment.\n <\/p>\n

\n Actor Sylvester Stallone, a frequent guest at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort and a White House \u201cambassador\u201d to Hollywood, is among this year\u2019s inductees, as is the band KISS, whose frontman, Gene Simmons, appeared on \u201cThe Celebrity Apprentice\u201d with Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n Simmons had some choice words for any critics who claim Trump has politicized the nation\u2019s most prominent cultural institution by inserting himself into the center\u2019s management, telling 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 he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Disco pioneer and honoree Gloria Gaynor\u2019s seminal hit, \u201cI Will Survive,\u201d is a fixture on Trump\u2019s campaign rally playlist. Gaynor herself has donated to numerous Republican candidates since 2016 under her birth name, \u201cGloria Fowles,\u201d according to FEC filings<\/a>. British actor Michael Crawford, also honored this year, originated the role of the phantom in \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d \u2014 a musical Trump has admitted to seeing multiple times.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump, who was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, touted this year\u2019s honorees during his remarks, suggesting no future class would ever match the accomplishments of his handpicked group.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTonight, we are seeing pure talent on full display. Nothing is more inspiring, nobody has ever done it better than the people you\u2019re watching and honoring tonight, and perhaps no one ever will,\u201d Trump said.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the president\u2019s dedication to forging a Kennedy Center that reflects his own will, rather than one that serves as an independent center for the performing arts, has rankled former employees, who have described political pressure and a fundamental shift in values under the Trump administration \u2014 all of which they claim are also hurting its finances.\n <\/p>\n

\n And his background as a real estate developer has allowed him to fixate on another element of the Kennedy Center overhaul that appeals to his interests: construction and renovations<\/a>. Under Trump\u2019s leadership, the center has begun restoring the exterior marble and painting over the distinctive gold columns to match the white stone.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a dinner feting this year\u2019s honorees at the State Department on Saturday, Ric Grenell, a Trump loyalist and the president of the Kennedy Center, said the performing arts institution \u201cneeds to be a place of bipartisanship.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt needs to be a place that we come together and we celebrate together, and we don\u2019t care who you voted for for president,\u201d Grenell told an audience of Kennedy Center donors and officials.\n <\/p>\n

\n But while bipartisanship may have been the stated goal, Trump\u2019s guests Sunday matched his political persuasion. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Mike Lawler joined him at the ceremony, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi watched from a neighboring seats.\n <\/p>\n

\n As host, Trump seemed to ignore the mission of bipartisanship too, instead leaning on familiar campaign rally-style rhetoric to boast of his own accomplishments while issuing rejoinders against his perceived political opponents.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is fantastic, isn\u2019t it? It is just so incredible. This is the greatest evening in the history of the Kennedy Center, not even a contest,\u201d Trump said during the program, which will air December 23 on CBS.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur country is back \u2014 they tried to get Biden to do this four years in a row,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI would have watched.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump took center stage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday evening to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-336936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}