Trump Attends Kennedy Center Honors With Wife Melania Trump Hours After Taking Swipe At Jimmy Kimmel

Donald Trump hosted the annual Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night, becoming the first president to do so. On Dec. 7, Trump arrived at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. alongside wife and First Lady Melania Trump where the couple posed for pictures on the red carpet. The 79-year-old also addressed reporters. Afterwards, he took center stage at the event, which recognized country singer George Strait, Broadway actor and singer Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, disco singer Gloria Gaynor, and rock band KISS. Hours ahead of the festivities, the President hosted the honorees at the White House on Saturday, where he took a swipe at Jimmy Kimmel while speaking at the press conference. “We never had a president hosting the awards before. This is the first – I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews, right? You know, they’ll say, ‘he was horrible. He was terrible. It was a horrible situation.’ No, we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host — Jimmy Kimmel was horrible,” he quipped, adding, “If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.” Kimmel has never hosted the Kennedy Center Honors but did make an onstage appearance at the event in 2012, during Barack Obama’s presidency, as part of a tribute to David Letterman. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been fixated on the Kennedy Center — purging many board members while installing himself as chairman and adding loyalists. He skipped the honors altogether during his first term in office. The Kennedy Center Honors will air Dec. 23 on CBS.