Did You Expect Anything Less?

You heard of the "Midas Touch", well Trump has the "Minus Touch" everything he touches turns to crap.

The Kennedy Center Honors are coming up. This year's event will be different

NPR News

December 5, 2025

Elizabeth Blair

The Kennedy Center Honors have traditionally been one of Washington's splashiest affairs. Think Hollywood on the Potomac.

Every year, an astonishing number of A-listers come to Washington, D.C., to pay tribute to the honorees with performances and speeches. Think Beyoncé performing for Tina Turner, Audrey Hepburn rhapsodizing about Cary Grant, Rob Reiner praising Norman Lear, Aretha Franklin singing for Carol King, Sidney Poitier honoring Harry Belafonte or James Taylor and John Williams playing for Yo-Yo Ma.

Well now Trump fired the bipartisan Board of Directors and put his cronies in their place. And everything went to shit.

As in years past, Sunday night's gala will be turned into a broadcast special that will air on CBS and Paramount+ on Dec. 23.

But, after months of upheaval at the Kennedy Center, the 48th Honors will be different. In February, President Trump abruptly ousted the Kennedy Center president, Deborah Rutter, and board chair David Rubenstein. Staff who worked on the ceremony and broadcast have also recently resigned.

So you know that Trump had to muddy up the waters...

In the past, honorees were chosen in a months-long, bipartisan undertaking by members of the Kennedy Center board with input from the general public and past honorees. Ultimately recipients were selected by executive members of the board and a couple of other senior staff members, with consultation from past honorees such as Julie Andrews, Lionel Richie and John Williams.

This year, President Trump said he was "about 98%" involved in the selection process. He also broke with tradition by personally announcing the names at a press conference at the Kennedy Center last August. Previously, the announcement was made on the center's website and in press releases.

It is "Me, Me, Me" with Trump! Guess who the host will be this year?

Previous hosts of the Kennedy Center Honors have included Walter Cronkite, Stephen Colbert, Gloria Estefan and Queen Latifah. Trump will host this year, a first for a U.S. president. At the August press conference, Trump said he's hosting because he was asked (he didn't say by whom), and said he was told "You'll get much higher ratings." He continued, "I used to host The Apprentice finales and we did rather well with that. So I think we're going to do very well because we have some great honorees."

Whether he will be doing t or not is still a secret and it is only a couple of weeks away! Forbes wrote that one of this year's honorees is...

Stallone, who has a history of supporting Republican candidates, had refrained from publicly supporting Trump until his 2024 election victory, after which Stallone introduced him at an event in Mar-a-Lago in November. There, Stallone called Trump a “really mythical character,” compared him to Washington and said nobody “could’ve pulled off what he pulled off,” referring to his election victory. Strait, who is largely quiet on politics, appeared to reference Trump’s assassination attempt at a concert on July 13, the same day Trump survived a bullet wound to the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Strait dedicated a performance of his 2019 pro-police song, “The Weight of the Badge,” to law enforcement officers, thanking them for their service “especially after today.” Gaynor, whose 1978 disco classic “I Will Survive” has been considered an LGBTQ anthem, has adopted Christian religious beliefs since she became a churchgoer in the 1980s...

If you butter up to Trump he showers you with awards!

As with everything Trump touches it tanks, The Hill writes,

Ticket sales plummet at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover: Washington Post analysis

by Ashleigh Fields - 10/31/25

Ticket sales for the Kennedy Center have continued to plummet in the months since President Trump took over its operations.

Tens of thousands of seats have been left empty at the three main performance venues, according to The Washington Post. 

About 43 percent of tickets remain unsold according to the Post’s daily analysis of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, Concert Hall and Eisenhower Theater from Sept. 3 to Oct. 19.

The outlet said the Kennedy Center was missing out on approximately $1 million in revenue 45 days into show season after numerous artists canceled or refused to perform there while it is under the Trump administration’s control.

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who was appointed interim president of the cultural center, said the staff members on site are “ecstatic,” alleging that workers were “dying for a change.” Performances by Christian artists have been ramped up in an effort to drive out what the administration has pegged as “woke” art pieces.

And sales have plummeted there just doesn't seem to be many people who want to spend a couple of hundred bucks watching gospel songs?

His comments, however, contradict the Post’s reporting that says there’s been a 36 percent drop in ticket sales compared to this time last year. The outlet also cited audience adjustments as a sign of patrons’ disengagement from the Kennedy Center.

[...]

“These numbers are likely more dire than they appear, as they don’t account for canceled productions or shows moved into smaller theaters due to weak ticket sales,” the person said in a statement provided on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation. 

Hold it we are talking about "Trump's Minus Touch" here... "going to make it “hot” again" so hot no one wants to touch it! The Center is folding just like all the other things that Trump touches!