Donald Trump has announced he will host the Kennedy Center honours this year, breaking with tradition as the event's newly installed chairman. The US president named Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, Kiss, George Strait and Michael Crawford as the first batch of nominees since he took over the Washington arts centre's board.
Trump said he was 'about 98% involved' in selecting the honourees and had 'turned down plenty' of candidates he deemed 'too woke' or too liberal. Typically, a bipartisan committee chooses recipients, but Trump has asserted control over the institution, firing the previous board and replacing it with loyalists.
The president also plans to 'fully renovate' the centre, aiming to make it a 'crown jewel' of American arts and culture. He claimed the venue had 'fallen on hard times' but would be restored to 'the absolute top level of luxury, glamour, and entertainment'.
Trump's intervention has drawn criticism, with producers of the musical Hamilton pulling out of a planned staging in March. The president avoided the awards during his first term after some artists boycotted his attendance. He described the new nominees as 'great people'.
