President Donald Trump presented the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals during a Saturday ceremony in the Oval Office, calling the group "perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class" ever assembled.

This year's recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone , singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, rock band KISS, and actor-singer Michael Crawford.

Why It Matters

In early February, Trump fired the Kennedy Center's president and chairman, replacing most of the board with political loyalists who then elected him the center's new chairman.

The previous president, Deborah Rutter , was ousted and later replaced by Ric Grenell , who served as acting director of national intelligence in the first Trump term. The president's direct involvement in selecting honorees and m

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