Washington– Sylvester Stallone, Kiss and Gloria Gaynor are among the dignitaries being celebrated Sunday at the annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala, where Donald Trump will host the show, marking the first time a head honcho has taken over the stage instead of sitting on the opera house’s podium.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, named after his Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he described as a “woke” anti-American culture.
Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show. On Saturday, during a dinner at the State Department for the honorees, the Republican president said that he was doing so “at the request of a certain television network.” He predicted the broadcast, scheduled to air Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, would receive its best ratings ever.
“It’s going to be something I believe in, and I’m going to make a prediction: This is going to be the highest-rated show they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some very good reviews, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen,” Trump said Sunday night.
Trump takes on the role played in the past by journalist Walter Cronkite and comedian and Trump nemesis Stephen Colbert, among others. Before Trump, presidents watched the parade alongside the honorees. Trump completely skipped honors during his first term.
Since 1978, the stars have been honored for their influence on American culture and the arts. Members of this year’s class are some of the most prominent figures in pop culture, including Stallone for his films “Rocky” and “Rambo,” Gaynor for her feminist anthem “I Will Survive” and “KISS” for her cartoonish glitter makeup and onstage smoke and fire shows. Country music star George Strait and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford are also honored.
The concert is expected to be an emotional one for Kiss members. The band’s lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after being injured in a fall.
Previous honorees have come from a wide range of art forms, whether dance (Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham), theater (Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber), film (Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks) or music (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell).
Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center
Trump upended decades of partisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and packing the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who then elected him president. He criticized the center’s programs and the building’s appearance, and said, perhaps jokingly, that he would rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center. He obtained more than $250 million from Congress to renovate the building.
At times, the heads of each political party found themselves face to face with artists with opposing political views. Republican Ronald Reagan was there to honor Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who signed the assault weapons ban into law, honored Charlton Heston, the actor and gun rights advocate.
During Trump’s first term, many of the honorees were openly critical of the president. In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, honoree and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire period.
Trump said he was heavily involved in selecting the 2025 honorees and rejected some recommendations because they were “too woke.” While Stallone is one of Trump’s “special ambassadors” in Hollywood, and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sunday’s other guests are less clear.
The honorees’ opinions about Trump
Street and Gaynor have said little about their policies, although Federal Election Commission records show Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years.
Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons spoke favorably of Trump when Trump ran for president in 2016. But in 2022, Simmons told Spin magazine that Trump was “out for himself” and criticized Trump for encouraging conspiracy theories and public expressions of racism.
Fellow KISS member Paul Stanley denounced Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were “terrorists.” But after Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.
“If your candidate loses, it’s time to learn from them, accept them, and try to understand why,” Stanley wrote on X. “If your candidate wins, it is time to understand that those who do not share your views also believe they are right and love this country just as much as you do.”
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Italy reported from New York.
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