Trump presents the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors and highlights progress in renovations of the historic cultural venue

President Donald Trump presented the Kennedy Center 2025 honorees with medals this Saturday, in a ceremony held in the Oval Office that coincided with the renovations he is promoting at the emblematic cultural center in Washington, which he has also headed for a few months.

During the event, the president said that the building had been "mistreated" for years and that his administration is "returning it to a level" that, in his opinion, "no place in the country will see."

The president highlighted this year's "most accomplished and renowned" honorees, including English actor Michael Crawford, disco star Gloria Gaynor, actor Sylvester Stallone, country icon George Strait and members of KISS: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, along with the daughter of the late guitarist Ace Frehley, were in the Oval Office. The official Kennedy Center event is scheduled for Sunday.

"This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans," Trump said. "This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled," he added.

Renovations: From repainted columns to cost criticisms

Renovations have also been a focus of attention. Trump maintains that he found the building in a state of "tremendous disrepair" and has vowed to restore it to its former glory. In October, he celebrated on Truth Social that the exterior columns had been repainted in white enamel, replacing the old gold paint, and humorously went so far as to call the building the "TRUMP KENNEDY."