Trump says he will host the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would host this year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, his latest move to revamp the Washington, D.C., cultural institution in his image.

“It’s going to be a big evening. I’ve been asked to host,” he said Wednesday as he was announcing this year’s Kennedy Center honorees. Trump, who appointed himself chair of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees earlier this year, said that he was reluctant to host when he was first presented with the idea.

“I said, ‘I don’t care. I’m president of the United States. I won’t do it’. They said, ‘please,'” he said.

“I didn’t want to do it? OK? They’re going to say, ‘He insisted.’ I did not insist. But I think it will be quite successful,” the president added.

The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump’s role in hosting will look like, including whether that means he’ll emcee the ceremony.

Past hosts of the Kennedy Center Honors include Queen Latifah, who hosted last year, and David Letterman, who hosted in 2021.

On Wednesday, Trump announced this year’s Kennedy Center honorees, who include singer George Strait, actor and comedian Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor and the band Kiss.

Since the start of his second term, Trump has often spoken about the Kennedy Center and the changes he hopes to make there.

In February, he abruptly fired several Kennedy Center board members and installed himself as chair of the board.

In a post on Truth Social at the time, the president wrote, “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN.”