Trump Says He Was Almost Completely ‘Involved’ In Choosing Kennedy Center Nominees

President Donald Trump told Daily Caller reporter Ashley Brasfield on Wednesday that he was almost entirely “involved” in the selection process of the Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

Trump announced that country singer George Strait, actors Michael Crawford and Sylvester Stallone, along with the rock band Kiss and disco singer Gloria Gaynor, will receive the Kennedy Center’s honorary award for their contributions to the American performing arts. Trump told Brasfield that he rejected many contenders for the award because they were too “woke.”

“I just wanted to ask you, thank you Mr. President, how involved were you in the selection process of these honorees?” Brasfield asked.

“I would say I was about 98% involved. They all went through me … I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I had a couple of wokesters. No, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be, very different. These are great people and they’re not, I don’t have any idea if they’re Republican … Very long answer, but I was very involved,” Trump said.

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The Kennedy Center Board elected Trump as the board chair on February 12 and terminated eighteen board members appointed by former President Joe Biden and the now-former chairman, David Rubenstein. Richard Grenell then replaced the now-former president Deborah F. Rutter, who served in the position from September 2014 to February 2025.