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Actor Sylvester Stallone<\/a>, glam rockers Kiss<\/a>, country music star George Strait<\/a>, disco diva Gloria Gaynor<\/a>, and actor-comedian-singer Michael Crawford<\/a> were named to this year\u2019s list of Kennedy Center Honorees, as announced by President Donald Trump<\/a> on Wednesday, August 13. Trump will also host the 48th annual Honors.<\/p>\n \u201cI have agreed to host. Do you believe what I have to do?\u201d said Trump.<\/p>\n The announcement of the honorees was teased on X (formerly Twitter) in a post that read<\/a>: \u201cComing soon\u2026 A country music icon, an Englishman, a New York City Rock band, a dance Queen and a multi-billion dollar Actor walk into the Kennedy Center Opera House\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe 48th Kennedy Center Honorees are outstanding people, an outstanding group \u2014 incredible,\u201d stated Trump of the honorees. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to celebrate the Kennedy Center Honors<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement of the annual gala and its honorees came after the controversial decision by the POTUS to remove all Democratic members from the bipartisan Kennedy Center board just four weeks into his second inauguration. He then became the first president<\/a> to be elected chairman of the Kennedy Center.<\/p>\n In a statement to reporters on February 10 after the shake-up, Trump noted<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m going to be chairman of it. We\u2019re going to make sure that it\u2019s good and that it\u2019s not going to be woke. There\u2019s no more woke in this country. This woke has caused us a fortune and caused us our reputation. But the reputation is coming back very, very rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump did not attend the Honors performances during his first term in office.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very exciting project,\u201d Trump said at the press conference on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do something that will go rapidly, relatively inexpensively, and we\u2019ll make it better than it ever was.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kennedy Center Honors will take place in December and will be produced by and televised on CBS, though the airdate is not yet confirmed.<\/p>\n Recently, tensions between CBS and the current administration have drawn attention as the network announced last month that The Late Show<\/a> will end in May 2026 for financial reasons, following Paramount\u2019s $16 million settlement with Trump over a 2024 60 Minutes<\/a> interview with then\u2013Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>. While the network said the decision was unrelated, some have speculated the move was linked to Trump, especially as Paramount was finalizing its Skydance merger and host Stephen Colbert<\/a> remained a frequent critic of the president.<\/p>\n