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President Donald Trump on Sunday hosted the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors Medal Presentation Dinner, honoring “some of the greatest of all time” actors and media leaders.
The president recognized this year’s honorees, including actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, country music legend George Strait, the rock band Kiss and actor Michael Crawford. He also thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for overseeing the event.
“This is really much, really, look at it — pure talent, a lot of talent, [as has] ever been assembled under one roof,” President Trump said. “We’ve done something that they’ve never done before, and I’ll be doing something that hasn’t been done before — the President of the United States is hosting, at the request of a certain television network.”
President Trump said he agreed to help host because he believed the occasion warranted it.
“I’m doing it because I feel it’s very important that we all get out and do something, and if that can make a difference that’s tremendous, but we have such wonderful people and I don’t mind doing it,” he said. “But, these are some of the greatest of all time. And, congratulations to all of you.”
Earlier in the evening, President Trump presented the honorees with their medals in the Oval Office.
“This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans,” President Trump said. “This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled,” he added, according to CBS News.
The ceremony carried a heavy emotional weight for the members of Kiss. The band’s original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after suffering injuries from a fall. During the tribute, a single red guitar releasing smoke was set on the stage in his honor, a nod to Frehley’s trademark use of a smoke bomb in his instrument.
The president, who appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center earlier this year, announced the honorees in August, breaking from long-standing practice in which the Kennedy Center typically makes the announcement.
This year’s gala, which will air later on CBS and Paramount+, also marks the first time a sitting president has hosted the awards ceremony, NPR reported.