Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Awards last night. While presidents often attended the awards, this is the first time a sitting President has hosted. The awards recipients, who Trump claims he was 98% responsible for choosing, are Sylvester Stallone, KISS, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. Trump was elected as chairman of the Kennedy Center Board earlier this year. Ticket sales for performances at the Center are the lowest they've been since the Pandemic.
Some of those in attendance chose the occasion to suck up to Trump, like Kelsey Grammer, who introduced Michael Crawford and called Trump "one of the greatest Presidents of all time." Gene Simmons praised the planned White House ballroom: "I believe the ballroom that’s being built, which is going to be twice as big, that is exactly what we need — a facelift. Have you ever been to Versailles? The American house of the people is shameful.”
But Trump himself took center stage with comments like this:
This is the greatest evening in the history of the Kennedy Center. There’s never been anything like this.
I’ve watched some of the people to host — Jimmy Kimmel was horrible. ,., If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.
(Note: Jimmy Kimmel has never hosted the event.
So many people I know in this audience, some good, some bad. Some I really love and respect. Some I truly hate. But they’re having a good time.
I can say that with a lot of the members of our audience — I know so many of you, and you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. But you are persistent, you never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.
The Awards presentation takes place in early December and is broadcast at Christmas time, this year on December 23 on CBS. I have often watched in the past for some amazing, touching moments and performances honoring the recipients. I will not be watching this year.
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2025 1:18 pm
by flockofseagulls104
You are free to not watch.
I fully understand how frustrating and annoying it is to watch and hear what you consider stupid nasty people denigrating and insulting people and values you hold dear.
Join the club. We deplorable, garbage people on the right who support what Trump is doing have been enduring that for over a decade now. Grow a pair
Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Awards last night. While presidents often attended the awards, this is the first time a sitting President has hosted. The awards recipients, who Trump claims he was 98% responsible for choosing, are Sylvester Stallone, KISS, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. Trump was elected as chairman of the Kennedy Center Board earlier this year. Ticket sales for performances at the Center are the lowest they've been since the Pandemic.
Some of those in attendance chose the occasion to suck up to Trump, like Kelsey Grammer, who introduced Michael Crawford and called Trump "one of the greatest Presidents of all time." Gene Simmons praised the planned White House ballroom: "I believe the ballroom that’s being built, which is going to be twice as big, that is exactly what we need — a facelift. Have you ever been to Versailles? The American house of the people is shameful.”
But Trump himself took center stage with comments like this:
This is the greatest evening in the history of the Kennedy Center. There’s never been anything like this.
I’ve watched some of the people to host — Jimmy Kimmel was horrible. ,., If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.
(Note: Jimmy Kimmel has never hosted the event.
So many people I know in this audience, some good, some bad. Some I really love and respect. Some I truly hate. But they’re having a good time.
I can say that with a lot of the members of our audience — I know so many of you, and you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. But you are persistent, you never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.
The Awards presentation takes place in early December and is broadcast at Christmas time, this year on December 23 on CBS. I have often watched in the past for some amazing, touching moments and performances honoring the recipients. I will not be watching this year.
I fully understand how frustrating and annoying it is to watch and hear what you consider stupid nasty people denigrating and insulting people and values you hold dear.
Join the club. We deplorable, garbage people on the right who support what Trump is doing have been enduring that for over a decade now. Grow a pair
Perfect example of the infantile nature of Trumpism. You don't like how the elites sneer at you because you're obviously stupid, so you prove you are emotionally immature by destroying something others enjoy.
It's not just the Kennedy Center - people like you (but not you - you're too feckless) want to do this to America.
You know, I never specifically said who these elites were. In fact, I meant they were entirely in whitefailure’s mind (after all, listing the folks in some way superior to him would last until the heat death of the universe).
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2025 10:09 pm
by Beebs52
Keep talking. It's amusing.
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2025 8:02 pm
by silverscreenselect
I thought the debacle at the Kennedy Center couldn't get worse. I was wrong.
The Board of Trustees voted to rename the facility the Trump-Kennedy Center (officially, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts"). They claimed the vote was unanimous, but one holdover Democratic representative on the Board who had phoned in (as did Trump himself) tried to vote no but was muted out. Others on the Board include Susie Wiles, Pam Bondi, Usha Vance, Dan Scavino, and the Secretary of Commerce's wife, Allison Lutnick. Needless to say, members of the Kennedy family were not pleased.
Several Democratic senators say that under the federal law that established the Kennedy Center, its name cannot be changed without Congressional approval. Expect litigation to follow.
I thought the debacle at the Kennedy Center couldn't get worse. I was wrong.
The Board of Trustees voted to rename the facility the Trump-Kennedy Center (officially, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts"). They claimed the vote was unanimous, but one holdover Democratic representative on the Board who had phoned in (as did Trump himself) tried to vote no but was muted out. Others on the Board include Susie Wiles, Pam Bondi, Usha Vance, Dan Scavino, and the Secretary of Commerce's wife, Allison Lutnick. Needless to say, members of the Kennedy family were not pleased.
Several Democratic senators say that under the federal law that established the Kennedy Center, its name cannot be changed without Congressional approval. Expect litigation to follow.
So, in other words, with all the problems this country faces, the President's biggest concern is trolling the Democrats for perceived slights to him.
Got it.
Didn't seem to take much time or effort, and it seems to be working.
I would think you might recognize your whole party devotes all it's time and efforts to destroy him, at the expense of addressing any of the country's problems. But no, you are too busy finding photos to feed your FDS, Don't bother ever telling me you don't have the time to do something as an excuse in the future.
A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition at the Washington, D.C., performing arts center dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show's host, musician Chuck Redd, told The Associated Press he called off the performance after the White House announced last week that President Trump's name would be added to the facility — drawing pushback from Democratic lawmakers and some scholars, who say the change violates the law. According to the White House, the president's handpicked board approved the decision to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. The revised name later appeared on the building's facade.
"When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert," Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday "Jazz Jams" at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William "Keter" Betts.
Numerous artists have called off Kennedy Center performances since Mr. Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf. Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned production of "Hamilton."
Despite his claim that “just about everybody” in America wanted him to host this year’s Kennedy Center Honors special, President Donald Trump didn’t get many people to watch the CBS broadcast on Tuesday night. Citing preliminary Nielsen data, Programming Insider reported the Kennedy Center Honors special drew its “smallest audience ever” with an average of 2.65 million viewers, representing a 35% decrease from last year’s then-record-low 4.1 million viewers. That stat represents “a staggering drop for one of broadcast TV’s most traditionally reliable specials,” Programming Insider added.
Trump tried to hype up his Kennedy Center Honors hosting gig in a Truth Social post earlier in the day. “At the request of the Board, and just about everybody else in America, I am hosting the event,” he wrote. “Tell me what you think of my ‘Master of Ceremony’ abilities. If really good, would you like me to leave the Presidency in order to make ‘hosting’ a full time job?”
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors — which were held in Washington, D.C., on December 7 — recognized George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and Sylvester Stallone. Tom Cruise was offered the honors but declined due to scheduling conflicts, according to The Washington Post. The Post also reported this week that CBS cut Trump’s opening remarks from 12 minutes to two minutes for broadcast — and edited out his calling the audience “miserable, horrible people.”
The network did add a voiceover introducing the “Trump-Kennedy Center Honors on CBS,” per Entertainment Weekly, after the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the institution as the Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. So far, CBS News is ignoring the name change, according to a standards-and-practices email cited by the Post. “Yesterday, the newly appointed board of the Kennedy Center voted to change the facility’s name to the Trump-Kennedy Center,” Jack Renaud, CBS’ senior director of standards and practices, wrote in the email. “But it would take Congressional approval to officially change the name. Therefore, CBS News will continue to use the ‘Kennedy Center.’”
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2025 9:21 pm
by Beebs52
Actually it was established as a federal memorial requiring congress to rename. So, there's that. Trump could let his ego get a rest for a bit.
Actually it was established as a federal memorial requiring congress to rename. So, there's that. Trump could let his ego get a rest for a bit.
The fact that Congress has to approve the name change is of no concern to Trump, who renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Secondary title. He can do that.
"For example, in September 2025, an executive order was signed to restore "Department of War" as a secondary title for the Department of Defense (DoD), which was its name until Congress changed it in 1949. This move allowed for immediate changes to internal communications, websites like war.gov, and signage around the Pentagon, but the department's legal name remains the Department of Defense unless Congress passes legislation to codify the change. Legislation has been proposed in Congress to make the name change permanent, but it requires a vote and passage through both chambers"
Actually it was established as a federal memorial requiring congress to rename. So, there's that. Trump could let his ego get a rest for a bit.
The fact that Congress has to approve the name change is of no concern to Trump, who renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Secondary title. He can do that.
"For example, in September 2025, an executive order was signed to restore "Department of War" as a secondary title for the Department of Defense (DoD), which was its name until Congress changed it in 1949. This move allowed for immediate changes to internal communications, websites like war.gov, and signage around the Pentagon, but the department's legal name remains the Department of Defense unless Congress passes legislation to codify the change. Legislation has been proposed in Congress to make the name change permanent, but it requires a vote and passage through both chambers"
It's not really a secondary title if it is used as the only title.
For example, in September 2025, an executive order was signed to restore "Department of War" as a secondary title for the Department of Defense (DoD), which was its name until Congress changed it in 1949. This move allowed for immediate changes to internal communications, websites like war.gov, and signage around the Pentagon, but the department's legal name remains the Department of Defense unless Congress passes legislation to codify the change. Legislation has been proposed in Congress to make the name change permanent, but it requires a vote and passage through both chambers.
Actually the old Department of War comprised the Army and Air Force. The Navy and Marines had their own Cabinet-level department.
Whoever had the idea for www.war.gov doesn’t understand website naming conventions. U.S. military websites should have the suffix .mil.
I amazes me that Congress passes laws to name post offices, but Presidents can rename military bases, national monuments, and even geographic features like Mt. McKinley.
Presidents can rename military bases, national monuments, and even geographic features like Mt. McKinley.
With all this renaming going on, I was reminded of a scene from the movie, The Green Berets. One of the soldiers in John Wayne's unit was named Provo, and he was fixated on the idea of what they might name after him if he died in combat. He noted the various buildings and streets in Vietnam that had been renamed after dead soldiers and couldn't think of anything that sounded right when "Provo" was added to it. Of course, he got killed during the movie, and the solution he came up with (and told John Wayne when he was on his deathbed in the film) was to rename the outhouse on the base the "Provo Privy." That way people would use it every day and think of him. Provo Privy was the name they used in the movie. The same anecdote appears in the book, but I can't remember the name of the building or soldier in the book, only that it was cruder (it might have been "crapper"; I read the book when I was in high school but I've rewatched the movie since then ).
Using that logic, I think it would be fitting for the next Democratic President to rename the appropriate building at Fort Benning or Bragg the "Trump toilet."
Using that logic, I think it would be fitting for the next Democratic President to rename the appropriate building at Fort Benning or Bragg the "Trump toilet."
A veteran jazz ensemble announced on Monday it was canceling its New Year's Eve performances at the Kennedy Center, the latest group to withdraw from the Washington arts institution after it was renamed to include U.S. President Donald Trump. "Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us," the Cookers jazz ensemble said in a statement. The Kennedy Center had promoted two New Year's Eve performances by the Cookers as an "all-star jazz septet that will ignite the Terrace Theater stage with fire and soul."
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 3:29 pm
by Beebs52
Just a question- can artists overcome their animosity or antipathy for "names" on a venue to keep pushing for excellence? Have any of the artists performed in arenas named for questionable peeps or existing in countries that don't celebrate our freedom of expression?
A specific example, Chappelle performed in Saudi Arabia. I really like Dave Chappelle, he pulls no punches.
Just a question- can artists overcome their animosity or antipathy for "names" on a venue to keep pushing for excellence? Have any of the artists performed in arenas named for questionable peeps or existing in countries that don't celebrate our freedom of expression?
A specific example, Chappelle performed in Saudi Arabia. I really like Dave Chappelle, he pulls no punches.
Just curious.
I don't think any performer is "pure" in that regard, and I don't expect them to be. Anyone who has their name on a building has probably done some questionable things to get that far.
But when someone does something like this basically because screw you, it is okay to take a stand.
Re: Trump at the Kennedy Center Awards
Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2026 9:31 am
by silverscreenselect
The Kennedy Center isn't completely vacant. This morning, Trump is speaking to a gathering of House Republicans there. Look for lots of right-wing political events there in the future. Lots of open dates.
