Trump gave Kennedy Centre Honours to Sylvester Stallone, the members of Kiss and Gloria Gaynor – as well as a huge figure in musical theatre who was a household name in the UK in the 1970s
23:29, 06 Dec 2025Updated 23:30, 06 Dec 2025
Trump gives Michael CRawford a Kennedy Centre Honour(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump gave a medal to a British sitcom icon and huge figure in musical theatre at a deeply weird Oval Office ceremony tonight.
In the early months of his second Presidency, Trump set his sights on a takeover of the Kennedy Centre, one of America’s foremost organisations for the performing arts. He ousted the board, rewrote the programme to be less “woke” and took control of the annual Kennedy Centre Honours.
The Honours are usually an A-list affair – and previous honourees have included Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, Jack Nicholson, Robert Ne Dior, Clint Eastwood, Barbara Streisand, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Katharine Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen – the list goes on.
This year it’s gone a little differently. Prior to the Trumpification of the centre, there was a months long judging process to come up with each year’s honourees. This year, Trump decided on them himself.
They include Sylvester Stallone, the band Kiss, country singer George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and British actor and singer Michael Crawford, known best for portraying hapless and accident-prone manchild Frank Spencer in Some Mother’s Do Ave Em, and originating the titular Phantom of the Opera in Trump’s favourite musical.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
The medals themselves will change. The iconic rainbow ribbon with gold links, which up until this year had been made by a family of artists for decades, have been dumped in favour of a gaudy gold medal made by (sigh), Tiffany&Co.
And there’ll be a big change to the ceremony, too. No longer will a big Hollywood star be giving out the gongs. No, no. The President of the United States himself is said to be conducting the ceremony tomorrow.
Tonight, in a brief ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump officially handed out the medallions to the winners. The three surviving founding members of Kiss – along with the daughter of guitarist Ace Frehley who died in October – Gaynor, Stallone and Strait all appeared to have Trump put a medal round their neck – along with Crawford.
Crawford, 83, shot to fame in the 1970s in the sitcom Some Mother’s Do Ave ‘Em, which regularly attracted 25 million viewers – about five times as many as watch Strictly every week today.
He then shocked many fans when he was cast as Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s mega hit musical, proving he not only had comedy chops but one of the all-time greatest voices in Musicals.
Trump said the group of “incredible people” represent the “very best in American arts and culture” and that, “I’ve been a fan of all of them.”
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS and actor Sylvester Stallone(Image: Getty Images)
“This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans,” said a tuxedo-clad Trump. “This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled.”
The president placed around each honoree’s neck a new medal that was designed, created and donated by jeweler Tiffany & Co., according to the Kennedy Center and Trump.
It’s a gold disc etched on one side with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors. The honoree’s name appears on the reverse side with the date of the ceremony. The medallion hangs from a navy blue ribbon and replaces a large rainbow ribbon decorated with three gold plates that rested on the honoree’s shoulders and chest.
Strait, wearing a cowboy hat, was first to receive his medal. When the country singer started to take off the hat, Trump said, “If you want to leave it on, you can. I think we can get it through.” But Strait took it off.
Songs by honorees Gaynor and Kiss played in the Rose Garden just outside the Oval Office as members of the White House press corps waited nearby to be admitted.
The president said in August that he was “about 98% involved” in choosing the 2025 honorees when he personally announced them at the Kennedy Center, the first slate chosen under his leadership. The honorees traditionally had been announced by press release.
It was unclear how they were chosen. Before Trump, it fell to a bipartisan selection committee.
Later Saturday, after the Oval Office event, Trump was scheduled to attend an annual State Department dinner for the honorees. In years past, the honorees would receive their medallions at the dinner but Trump has moved the ceremony to the White House.
Trump spent several hours at the Kennedy Center on Friday. He participated in the FIFA World Cup draw for 2026 and accepted its inaugural peace prize. Trump also met in a group with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.