President Trump on Saturday introduced 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees with his medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office, hailing the list of artists in whose selection he had an active role as “perhaps the most accomplished and distinguished class” ever assembled.
This year's honorees included actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford.
Mr Trump said they were a group of “incredible people” who represented “the very best in American art and culture” and that “I know most of them and have been fans of them.”
Julia Demarie Nihinson/AP
“This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, inspired and united millions and millions of Americans,” a tuxedoed Mr. Trump said. “This is perhaps the most accomplished and distinguished class of Kennedy Center honorees ever assembled.”
Mr Trump ignored the Kennedy Center and his program of major awards during his first term as president. But the Republican has introduced a number of changes since returning to office in January, most notably by ousting the board of trustees and replacing them with GOP loyalists who voted for him as chairman of the board. This prompted a number of artists cancel performances and some employees resigned.
The changes were introduced after the White House blamed the institution “woke up” and took a hard look at my finances earlier this year.
The president placed a new medal, which was designed, created and donated by jeweler Tiffany & Co., around each honoree's neck, according to the Kennedy Center and Trump.
It is a gold disc with an image of the Kennedy Center and the colors of the rainbow engraved on one side. The honoree's name appears on the back along with the date of the ceremony. The medallion hangs from a dark blue ribbon and replaces a large rainbow ribbon decorated with three gold plates that rested on the recipient's shoulders and chest.
Strait, wearing a cowboy hat, was the first to receive a medal. As the country singer began to remove his hat, Mr. Trump said: “If you want to keep it, you can. I think we can handle it.” But Straight took it down.
Bonnie Cash/Getty Images 
The president said Crawford became a “great Broadway star” for his starring role in the long-running “Phantom of the Opera.” Of Gaynor, he said: “We have the queen of disco, and she truly was, and no one did it like Gloria Gaynor.”
Mr Trump spoke effusively of his friend Stallone, calling him a “wonderful” and “spectacular” man, “one of the true great movie stars” and “one of the greatest legends”.
Kiss is “an incredible rock band,” he said.
Songs by honorees Gaynor and Kiss played in the Rose Garden near the Oval Office as members of the White House press corps waited nearby for Mr. Trump to begin the ceremony.
In August, the president said he was “about 98% involved” in choosing the 2025 honorees when he personally announced them at the Kennedy Center, the first list selected under his leadership. The laureates were traditionally announced in a press release.
It was unclear how they were selected. Before Trump, this task belonged to a bipartisan selection committee.
“These are some of the greatest artists, actors and performers of their generation. The greatest we have ever seen,” Mr. Trump said. “We can hardly imagine the country music phenomenon without its king of country, or American disco without its first lady, or Broadway without its ghost—and it was a ghost, let me tell you—or rock and roll without its most popular band in the world, and that is what they are, or Hollywood without one of its greatest visionaries.”
“Each of you has left an indelible mark on American life, and together you have defined entire genres and set new standards for the performing arts,” Mr. Trump said.
Trump also attended the State Department's annual honorees dinner on Saturday. In past years, honorees received their medallions there, but Trump moved the ceremony to the White House.
Meanwhile, the glittering Kennedy Center Honors program and its series of speeches and performances honoring each recipient will be taped Sunday at the Center for the Performing Arts for broadcast later in December on CBS and Paramount+. Mr Trump will attend the program for the first time as president, accompanied by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
The president said in August that he had agreed to host the show and appeared to confirm on Saturday that he would do so, predicting that it would result in the show's highest ratings ever. Presidents traditionally attend the program and sit next to the laureates in the hall. No one ever acted as the owner.
He said he was looking forward to Sunday's celebration.
“I believe in it and I'm going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show they've ever done, and they got some pretty good ratings, but there's nothing like what's going to happen tomorrow night,” Mr. Trump said.
