During an unprecedented event, Donald Trump humorously suggested that he would nominate himself for a Kennedy Center Honors award while also proposing that the center be renamed in his honor. This marked a historic moment as he became the first sitting president to host the prestigious gala.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made a striking entrance on the red carpet, both donned in classic black-tie ensembles, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday evening. The event celebrated notable figures such as Sylvester Stallone and the band Kiss.

In his opening remarks, Trump commended the evening’s honorees, humorously adding that he approved each selection before jesting, “I think I’m going to nominate myself next year.”

Taking the stage, the president expressed pride in the appearance of the center amid ongoing renovations, jokingly referring to it as “the Trump-Kennedy center” after admiring the improvements, which he described as “gorgeous.”

Realizing his slip, Trump quickly corrected himself, saying, “I mean, the Kennedy Center. I’m sorry. This is terribly embarrassing.”

The quips invoked laughter from the crowd, but they risked sparking a liberal meltdown after he upended decades of bipartisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and stacking the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who then elected him chair.

During his first term he repeatedly expressed disdain for the center, arguing it had gone ‘woke.’ 

But on Sunday his takeover of the once liberal-leaning institution appeared complete as he beamed on the red carpet and discussed his hosting preparations.  

‘This is the greatest evening in the history of the Kennedy Center,’ he said. ‘Not even a contest. There has never been anything like it. The show is already getting rave reviews.’

Trump was questioned earlier in the evening about having the building renamed to the ‘Trump Kennedy Center’, but he was coy on the red carpet, insisting he would have no part in making such a decision.

‘I don’t know, I hear that,’ he said, before adding ‘that’s not up to me. That’s up to the board, they make that decision. We have a very prestigious board.’

Inside the hall, Trump set to work entertaining the crowd, describing members of the audience – which included Hollywood stars and some of his own cabinet members – as ‘miserable, horrible people.’

‘If there its one thread that connects all of these amazing artists together, it is the word persistence,’ Trump said.

‘I can say that with a lot of members of our audience. I know so many of you. You are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. You are persistent. You never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.’ 

He heaped praised the honorees, telling the crowd: ‘Personally I love them all. and America loves them all.’

‘Each of the incredible honorees earned the distinction many, many times over,’ he said. ‘They’ve given us immortal characters of the silver screen.. unprecedented triumphs of the Broadway stage and unforgettable music that has become the soundtrack of our lives.’ 

Trump described George Strait as the ‘undisputed champion of country’ and Gloria Gaynor as a ‘disco icon’ with ‘unwavering faith’, noting: ‘There has never been a voice like this one. That voice moved the world to dance.’

He showered praise on Sylvester Stallone for his film career and described Michael Crawford as ‘one of the brightest lights ever to grace the stage of Broadway and… a very special man.’

He saved his highest praise for Kiss, describing the group as ‘one of the greatest bands in the history of rock and roll… straight out of the borough of Queens.’

Trump described each member of the band as ‘giants’ and said ‘everybody’ wanted to see them receive the honor on Sunday, before paying particular tribute to late guitarist Ace Frehley.

He revealed Frehley’s daughter was in the crowd and had attended the White House presentation on Saturday night.

‘This was a daughter who cried all last night and that told me one thing. She loved her father. I usually see people who don’t cry. They couldn’t care less,’ he said.

Trump said each of the honorees ‘exemplify the best of America and are part of the fabric of America… This is special. This is all about them.’

He had earlier promised to let loose on stage as he took a dig at nemesis Jimmy Kimmel.

‘Maybe I haven’t prepared, maybe you want to be a little bit loose,’ he said when asked how he had planned for the gig. 

‘If you look at the great hosts, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, those are the greats. And if you look at the not-so-greats, Jimmy Kimmel, who was just terrible… You want to be loose, not a lot to prepare for, you just have to be yourself.’

Kimmel has never hosted the Kennedy Center Honors but has experience fronting Primetime Emmys and the Academy Awards.

His jab at Kimmel comes a day after he vowed to do a better job at hosting than him.

‘I‘ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible,’ Trump said of the late-night comedian’s hosting prowess. 

‘If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.’ 

The First Lady beamed as she wore a chic black floor length gown while Trump wore a traditional tuxedo and bow tie. 

Trump has criticized the center’s programming and the building’s appearance, and secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations of the building.

‘We’ve raised a tremendous amount of money tonight for the building itself and for charities,’ Trump told reporters. ‘This beautiful building is going to be brought back to life and it’ll be better than it was from day one.’

On Sunday night, the gala honored Stallone for his performances in Rocky and Rambo, as well as Kiss for its flashy, cartoonish makeup and onstage displays of smoke and pyrotechnics.

Gaynor was honored for her feminist anthem ‘I Will Survive’, along with country music superstar George Strait and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford.

Since 1978, the honors have recognized stars for their influence on American culture and the arts. 

Trump said in August he had agreed to host the show, and during a State Department dinner for the honorees on Saturday, boasted that he was doing so ‘at the request of a certain television network.’ 

But the public will have to wait to see how Trump stacks up compared to other hosts, which include his nemesis Stephen Colbert and journalist Walter Cronkite, until December 23, when the gala is broadcast to the masses. 

He predicted that the broadcast on CBS and Paramount+, would have its best ratings ever.

‘It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen’ on Sunday night, Trump said.

The honorees were also spotted on the red carpet and briefly spoke with reporters about what the event meant to them. 

Stallone said being honored at the ceremony was like being in the ‘eye of a hurricane.’

‘This is an amazing event,’ he said. ‘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.’

Crawford also said it was ‘humbling, especially at the end of a career.’

Gaynor said on the carpet it ‘feels like a dream’ to be honored. ‘To be recognized in this way is the pinnacle.’

But it is expected to be an emotional evening for the members of Kiss. Frehley, the band’s original lead guitarist, died in October after he was injured during a fall.

The band’s co-founder Gene Simmons, speaking on the red carpet when he and the other honorees arrived, said Trump had assured him there would be an empty chair among the members of Kiss in memory of Frehley. 

Presidents of each political party have at times found themselves face to face with artists of opposing political views. 

Republican Ronald Reagan was there for honoree Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who had signed an assault weapons ban into law, marked the honors for Charlton Heston, an actor and gun rights advocate.

During Trump’s first term, multiple honorees were openly critical of the president. 

In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, honors recipient and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire term.

Trump has said he was deeply involved in choosing the 2025 honorees and turned down some recommendations because they were ‘too woke.’ 

While Stallone is one of Trump’s Hollywood ‘special ambassadors’ and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sunday’s other guests are less clear.

Strait and Gaynor have said little about their politics, although Federal Election Commission records show that Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years.

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 effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were ‘terrorists.’ 

After Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.

‘If your candidate lost, it’s time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why,’ Stanley wrote on X.

‘If your candidate won, it’s time to understand that those who don’t share your views also believe they are right and love this country as much as you do.’