Sylvester Stallone Got His Kennedy Center Honors Medal from Trump, Who Called Him “One Of The True, Great Movie Stars.”

Trump handpicked this year’s honorees himself, then hung the medal on his longtime friend and heaped on the praise, calling Stallone a “wonderful” and “spectacular” person, “one of the great legends,” and one of Hollywood’s “greatest visionaries.”

The medals went out in the Oval Office on Saturday, not at the State Department dinner where honorees have traditionally received them. Trump moved the ceremony to the White House and, in a presidential first, is hosting the Kennedy Center Honors program himself.

Stallone was one of five honorees, alongside Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Michael Crawford and the rock band Kiss. Trump, in a tuxedo, called the group “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled” and said, “I know most of them and I’ve been a fan of all of them.” Songs by Gaynor and Kiss played in the Rose Garden as the press corps waited for the ceremony to begin.

Strait, in a cowboy hat, was first up. When he started to take it off, Trump told him, “If you want to leave it on, you can. I think we can get it through.” Strait took it off anyway.

Trump said in August he was “about 98% involved” in choosing the honorees, the first slate picked under his leadership after he ousted the center’s board and installed supporters who voted him in as chair. The changes followed White House accusations that the institution had gone “woke,” and triggered artist cancellations and staff resignations. The board, now stocked with his appointees, also voted to add his name to the center’s, though the center’s name is set by law; CBS is relabeling this year’s broadcast the “Trump-Kennedy Center Honors” via an added voiceover.

The new Tiffany & Co. medal is a gold disc etched with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors, hung from a navy ribbon, with each honoree’s name and the ceremony date on the back. It’s the first redesign since the honors began in 1978, replacing the wide rainbow ribbon and gold nameplates recipients used to wear across the shoulders and chest.

The full program, with tribute speeches and performances, airs Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+.

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