The 2025 Kennedy Center Honors were held Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, marking the first edition since Donald Trump took over the prestigious Washington, D.C., venue and remade it in his own image. Unlike his first term, when he pointedly skipped the ceremony, in Trump 2.0 the president not only showed up, he essentially produced the entire event: from selecting the conservative-leaning honorees (KISS, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford), to redesigning the medals they received, to serving as the night’s emcee.

Per Deadline , Trump explained during his opening monologue that he was “going to try and act like Johnny Carson.” He proceeded to do a bit around the word “persistence.”

“If there its one thread that connects all of these amazing artist

See Full Page