“You’ll Get Much Higher Ratings” — Trump Agrees to Host Kennedy Center Honors

Well, it’s settled, President Donald Trump will host the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors in December, he revealed during an Aug. 13, 2025, press conference, although it apparently took some convincing to get him on board. He says his first reply was, “I’m the President of the United States, are you fools asking me to do that?” to which he was told, “Sir, you’ll get much higher ratings.” Trump then said he came back again with, “I’m President of the United States, and I won’t do it."

He then said his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, urged him to take the gig, and he eventually obliged, joking that it was all thanks to the “power” she has over him. He will now officially host one of the most prestigious performing arts honors in the country. But why would the folks at the Kennedy Center Honors want Trump to host an event that has previously celebrated icons like Dick Van Dyke and even Sesame Street, especially considering his controversial past with the organization?

Well, because he was asked to. But was it an unsolicited invitation as he claims? (He said they’ll say he insisted, but he assures he didn’t.) Or did a little birdie put the idea in the ears of the folks running the organization because he secretly wanted to do it? It could go either way.

While Trump says he was told that hosting the Kennedy Center Honors would help boost ratings (and maybe even “cure” those with Trump Derangement Syndrome, or TDS), he may have played a bigger role in securing the gig than he lets on. After all, there were major shakeups at the Kennedy Center in early 2025.

The fact is, Trump hasn’t exactly been the Honors’ biggest fan. If you recall, he boycotted the event during his first term, per CBS News. The outlet also reported that earlier in 2025, the White House called the Kennedy Center “woke” and questioned its finances. Then came the changes, the biggest being Trump “ousting” the board members appointed by former President Joe Biden.

The new board, now presumably Team Trump, then replaced chairman David Rubenstein with Trump himself, while Richard Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence (DNI) in 2020 under Trump, stepped in as interim president.

With the Kennedy Center now run by folks who favor Trump, it almost seems too coincidental that he’d be asked out of the blue to host the Honors and not even know his name was being considered. But that’s just one theory.

Among the people who will be honored at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors are actor and singer Michael Crawford, iconic “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band KISS, Sylvester Stallone, and George Strait. The 24th Honors will take place on Dec. 22, 2025, and will be broadcast on CBS. It will likely also be streamed on Paramount+, just as it was in 2024.