President Trump is hosting the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday after presenting medals to the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees during an Oval Office ceremony Saturday.
President Trump on Sunday was set to host the Kennedy Center Honors after presenting the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office on Saturday, hailing the slate of artists he was deeply involved in choosing as « perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class » ever assembled.
This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford.
Mr. Trump said Saturday they are a group of « incredible people » who represent the « very best in American arts and culture » and that, « I know most of them and I’ve been a fan of all of them. »
Sunday marks the first time a president will command the stage for the ceremony instead of sitting in an Opera House box.
Asked when he arrived how he had found time to prepare, Mr. Trump said he « didn’t really prepare very much. »
« If you look at the great hosts, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, those are the greats », Mr. Trump said, while disparaging previous host Jimmy Kimmel, whom the president has criticized on multiple occasions, going so far as to urge ABC to remove him as host of « Jimmy Kimmel Live! »
« But no, I think you, you want to be just loose and not a lot to prepare for. You know what you have to be? You have to be yourself », Mr. Trump said.
« I have a good memory, so I can remember things, which is very fortunate », the president said. « But just, I wanted to just be myself. You have to be yourself. Johnny Carson, he was himself. »
Mr. Trump is assuming a role that has been held in the past by journalist Walter Cronkite and comedian Stephen Colbert, among others. Before Mr. Trump, presidents watched the show alongside the honorees.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, one of several Cabinet secretaries attending the ceremony, said he’s looking forward to Mr. Trump’s hosting job.
« Oh, this president, he is so relaxed in front of these cameras, as you know, and so funny, I can’t wait for tonight », Lutnick said as he arrived with his wife, who is on the Kennedy Center board.
Mr. Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show.
