President Donald Trump announced this year’s Kennedy Center Honors recipients during a visit to the Washington performing-arts complex on Wednesday and said he will personally host the ceremony in December, a first for a sitting U.S. president. The 2025 class comprises country music star George Strait, actor-singer Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, disco icon Gloria Gaynor and rock band KISS. They are the first honorees selected since Trump installed himself as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year. Trump told reporters he was “about 98% involved” in the choice of artists and said he rejected several candidates he considered “too woke,” diverging from the decades-old practice in which a bipartisan advisory panel recommends the awardees. Since returning to office, the president has dismissed the center’s previous board, appointed allies to senior posts and secured $250 million in federal funds to refurbish the venue, pledging to make it a “crown jewel” ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026. Trump boycotted the Kennedy Center gala throughout his first term amid tensions with performers, but his decision to emcee the 48th annual event underscores a broader effort to assert greater control over Washington’s cultural institutions.