Overview
- CBS aired the 48th Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 23, with President Donald Trump serving as host, the first time a sitting president has emceed the event.
- The broadcast opened as the “Trump-Kennedy Center Honors,” even though the gala was taped on Dec. 7 before the subsequent name change on the building facade.
- After a board vote to add Trump’s name to the federally designated memorial, lawmakers, members of the Kennedy family, and plaintiffs filed challenges arguing the change requires congressional approval.
- Trump reshaped the institution this year by purging and replacing the board, becoming chair, asserting heavy control over honoree selection, and introducing Tiffany-designed medallions on a navy ribbon.
- Operational fallout continued with reported ticket-sales declines, artist withdrawals from programming, and calls for viewer boycotts tied to the president’s expanded role.