President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday arrived at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, for what is set to be the first such event hosted by a U.S. president.
The annual event has honored celebrities for their influence on American culture and arts since 1978.
This year, the ceremony is set to honor actor Sylvester Stallone for the “Rocky” and “Rambo” series in which he played the titular characters, Gloria Gaynor for her song “I Will Survive,” the Rock band KISS, country music singer George Strait, and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford.
“This is a group that really is unique,” Trump told reporters on the red carpet to enter the event. “Over the years I’ve been watching. You’ve had some wonderful honoraries, but I think this is really very much unparalleled.”
The full program will air until Dec. 23, Trump has stated.
Trump announced that he had agreed to host the show in August, the first time a president will have hosted the show. In the past, it has been hosted by celebrities such as Stephen Colbert, Queen Latifah, Gloria Estefan, David Letterman, and Walter Cronkite.
During a State Department dinner for the honorees on Saturday, Trump said that he would be the first president to host the program “at the request of a certain network.” The broadcast will be available to stream on CBS and Paramount+ on Dec. 23.
“It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen” when the show airs, Trump said.
This story is developing and will be updated with additional details.
