On Wednesday (Aug. 13), President Donald Trump held a press conference to announce this year’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honorees. He also wound up rambling on about the layout of the arts complex, and declared that he would be hosting the ceremony himself.
“This is a very exciting project. We’re going to do something that will go rapidly, relatively inexpensively, and we’ll make it better than it ever was,” Trump said, adding, “I have agreed to host — do you believe what I have to do?” He said that he was “reluctant” to host at first but accepted: “I said, to hell with it. I’ll become chairman. I’ll give myself an honor…Next year, we’ll honor Trump.”
The list of honorees for this year’s ceremony includes actor Sylvester Stallone, British actor Michael Crawford, the rock band KISS, “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor, and country music star George Strait. Stallone has been an avid supporter of Trump in the past, and while KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have blasted Trump in the past, they expressed their gratitude for the honor.
Trump at times went off on a tangent during the press conference, pointing out the renovations to the complex. “Look at the quality of the marble,” he said in the middle of his speech. “These columns, when you see them the next time, they’ll be magnificent… The bones are so good. The bones of a building, if you don’t have the bones, you might as well forget it.”
Trump hadn’t attended the Kennedy Center Honors in his first term. Soon after the start of his second term, he has worked to take over the institution and revamp it in his image, installing himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees while removing bipartisan members and installing loyalists such as Richard Grenell. His main directive was to ensure that no “wokesters,” mainly those who’ve consistently voiced opposition to him, wouldn’t be considered as honorees. As part of his takeover of the Washington, D.C., police, unhoused encampments near the Kennedy Center were being cleared out to be in line with his visions for the area.
