Trump announced this year\u2019s honorees on Wednesday, including rock band KISS<\/a>, theater star Michael Crawford, country legend George Strait<\/a>, actor Sylvester Stallone, and singer Gloria Gaynor. Trump said<\/a> he was \u201c98 percent involved\u201d in choosing them for awards.<\/p>\n \u201cI turned down plenty. I had a couple of wokesters,\u201d he claimed at a press conference.<\/p>\n Cruise has not commented publicly on the awards, and has typically avoided politics in his decades-long career.<\/p>\n Cruise, who was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, N.Y., is one of the biggest movie stars of all time, with roles in films like \u201cTop Gun,\u201d \u201cMission: Impossible,\u201d \u201cRisky Business,\u201d \u201cA Few Good Men,\u201d \u201cJack Reacher\u201d and \u201cMinority Report.\u201d He\u2019s won three Golden Globes and been nominated for four Academy Awards (for \u201cBorn on the Fourth of July,\u201d \u201cJerry Maguire,\u201d \u201cMagnolia\u201d and \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d), and will receive an honorary Oscar<\/a> for his lifetime achievements in November.<\/p>\n His upcoming projects include a SpaceX movie, a new Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu film, and reported sequels to \u201cTop Gun\u201d and \u201cEdge of Tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center<\/a> in February after replacing the arts institution\u2019s board of trustees with his supporters. The center, supported by government money and private donations, features world-renowned performers in theater, music, and more. The Kennedy Center Honors is its biggest event, often with presidents in attendance, though Trump routinely skipped it during his first term.<\/p>\n Trump said Wednesday that he always wanted to receive a Kennedy Center Award.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 1978, the Kennedy Center honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts. I wanted one, was never able to get one,\u201d he told media. \u201cI would have taken it. I waited and waited and waited and I said \u2018to hell with it, I\u2019ll become chairman.\u2019 I will give myself an honor. Next year we\u2019ll honor Trump, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n The 48th Annual Kennedy Center Honors will take place on Dec. 7.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A famous Syracuse native has turned down an offer for an award from President Donald Trump, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[6234,236,88,6235],"class_list":["post-89976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bestof","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-topix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89976","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=89976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Mission:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XH57TCRX7VGPZJARNU3NCNEUUE.jpg\")
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JULY 03: Tom Cruise attends the Australian premiere of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” on July 03, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams\/Getty Images)Getty Images<\/p>\n