2025 Kennedy Center honorees: Trump hosts 48th annual ceremony

Trump awards Kennedy Center honorees

President Trump awarded medals to the Kennedy Center honorees in an Oval Office ceremony. Recipients included Sylvester Stallone, George Strait and Gloria Gaynor.

President Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and lauded Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford and George Strait, the honorees at Sunday night's event.

Trump said the entertainers recognized with tribute performances during the show, are "among the greatest artists and actors, performers, musicians, singers, songwriters ever to walk the face of the Earth," the Associated Press reported. 

Trump speaks at Kennedy Center

President Trump delivered remarks at the Kennedy Center on Saturday. Trump presented medallions to the 2025 Kennedy Center Honor recipients.

He appeared on stage a few times to open and close the show, and after intermission. Trump also praised each artist in prerecorded videos that played before their tributes.

Trump hosted the ceremony, marking the first time a president hosted instead of watching in the audience with the honorees.  He skipped the Kennedy Center honors altogether during his first term in office. 

Previous hosts included journalist Walter Cronkite and comedian and Trump nemesis Stephen Colbert, among others. 

US President Donald Trump, left, presents a medal to actor Michael Crawford during the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via

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2025 Kennedy Center honorees

This year’s Kennedy Center honorees were: 

• Actor Sylvester Stallone
• Rock band KISS
• Singer Gloria Gaynor
• Country singer George Strait
• Stage and screen actor Michael Crawford

What they're saying:

Sylvester Stallone told reporters that receiving the honor was like being in the "eye of a hurricane."

"This is an amazing event," Stallone said on the red carpet, the Associated Press noted. "But you’re caught up in the middle of it. It’s hard to take it in until the next day. ..: but I’m incredibly humbled by it."

RELATED: KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's cause of death revealed

Michael Crawford also told reporters receiving the honor was "humbling, especially at the end of a career."

Gloria Gaynor shared with reporters that it "feels like a dream" to be honored. "To be recognized in this way is the pinnacle," she said after arriving.

An emotional night for KISS

Dig deeper:

Sunday night's ceremony was emotional for the members of Kiss. The band’s original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after he was injured during a fall. 

During the tribute to Kiss, the Associated Press reported that a lone red guitar that emitted smoke was placed on stage in remembrance of Frehley, who was known for having a smoke bomb in his instrument. The ceremony ended with a performance by Cheap Trick of Kiss' "Rock and Roll All Nite" that brought the crowd to its feet.

Previous Kennedy Center honorees

The backstory:

Previous Kennedy Center honorees include composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, actors Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, and musicians Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, among many others.