Trump Announces Kennedy Center Honorees. Applause Pending

Traditionally, the announcement of the Kennedy Center Honors is a low-key affair — recipients are normally revealed each summer with a no-frills press release. Not this time. Shattering precedent (yet again), President Trump — who earlier this year anointed himself chairman and fired much of the center’s advisory committee, replacing them with allies like ex-spy chief Richard Grenell and MAGA publisher Sergio Gor — staged an Apprentice -style spectacle, unveiling his picks with an unwieldy, nearly hourlong press conference that, as usual, raised more questions than it answered.

Traditionally, the announcement of the Kennedy Center Honors is a low-key affair — recipients are normally revealed each summer with a no-frills press re

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