Sylvester Stallone to receive award, with POTUS as host

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday named country music star George Strait, "Rocky" actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Centre Honors nominees under his leadership as the centre's chairman and said he'll host the awards program.

Trump also said he'll "fully renovate" the entire infrastructure of the Kennedy Center to make it a "crown jewel" of arts and culture in the United States.

"We're going to bring it to a higher level than it ever hit," the President said, adding the venue would be featured in next year's celebrations of America's 250th anniversary.


Trump said he didn't want to host the program but was invited to do so and agreed.

The Republican President avoided the Kennedy Center Honors awards program during his first term after artists said they wouldn't attend out of protest. This year, he has taken over as the Kennedy Center's new chairman and fired the board of trustees, which he replaced with loyalists.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump teased a name change for the center, formally the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and said it would be restored to its past glory. "Great nominees for the Trumo/Kennedy center, whoops, I mean, Kennedy Center, awards," Trump wrote. He said work was being done on the site that would bring it "back to the absolute Top level of luxury, glamour, and entertainment."