This year's recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford
Trump ignored the Kennedy Centre and its premier awards program during his first term as president. But the Republican president instituted a series of changes since returning to office in January, most notably ousting its board of trustees and replacing them with GOP supporters who voted him in as chairman
Trump also has criticized the centre's programming and its physical appearance, and vowed to overhaul both
The president said in August that he was "about 98 per cent involved" in choosing the 2025 honourees when he personally announced them at the Kennedy Centre, the first slate chosen under his leadership. The honourees traditionally had been announced by press release
It was unclear how they were chosen. Before Trump, it fell to a bipartisan selection committee
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