Trump was 'very involved' in Kennedy Center Honorees selection, vetoed 'wokesters'

President Trump speaks during the unveiling of the Kennedy Center Honors nominees on Aug. 13, 2025, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

This year's Kennedy Center honorees are country singer and Grammy Award-winner George Strait; Broadway actor and singer Michael Crawford, known for originating the lead role in The Phantom of the Opera; the actor Sylvester Stallone, star of the Rocky and Rambo movies; disco singer Gloria Gaynor, known for her women's empowerment anthem "I Will Survive"; and the rock band Kiss.

At a press conference this morning at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, President Trump said he was "very involved" in selecting the group — a departure for the Kennedy Center Honors. Traditionally, the recipients are selected in a months-long, bipartisan undertaking by members of the Kennedy Center board with input from the general public and past honorees.

But on Tuesday, staff were caught off guard when Trump announced that honorees had already been selected. Kennedy Center Honors' executive producer Matthew Winer announced his resignation that day.

At Wednesday's press conference, Trump said that he said no to "a couple of wokesters" proposed by the board, though he also said that the honorees weren't chosen based on their politics. He referred to Sylvester Stallone as a friend and talked about being a huge fan of Michael Crawford's performance in Phantom of the Opera.

This morning, Trump also said that his staff urged him to host the event in December. He agreed, noting that he had previously hosted The Apprentice.

The Kennedy Center Honors are lifetime achievement awards with "artistic excellence" as the main criterion. Past-honorees include Stephen Sondheim, Yo-Yo Ma, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Cash, Meryl Streep, Aretha Franklin, LL Cool J, Francis Ford Coppola and the Grateful Dead.

Honorees are traditionally treated to a weekend of events in Washington, D.C. including a dinner at the State Department, a reception at the White House and a star-studded gala at the Kennedy Center.

According to a news release shared by the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, this year's celebration is scheduled for Dec. 7. It will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ at a later date.

In February, Trump led an overhaul of the Kennedy Center's leadership by dismissing the previously-appointed Board of Trustees, along with longtime Kennedy Center chair David Rubenstein. Deborah Rutter, who served as president of the cultural center for over a decade, was also ousted.

Under Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" signed into law in July, the Kennedy Center will receive $257 million. That is six times what it normally gets from Congress annually.

Also, Republican lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee recently approved an additional $32 million for the performing arts center, under the condition that the Opera House would be renamed for Melania Trump, the first lady. Another bill introduced in the House would rename the Kennedy Center after Trump himself.

Since taking office in his second term, the Trump White House has waged an assault on cultural institutions that receive federal funding.

He issued an executive order calling for a review to eliminate ""improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology" from the Smithsonian's museums; fired the Librarian of Congress and has proposed eliminating the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. Also, his administration's Department of Government Efficiency drastically cut funding to grants to cultural organizations across the country.

Clare Lombardo edited this story.