Trump became the first sitting president to preside over the annual ceremony, which has become embroiled in controversy over his push to add his name to the institution’s title.

CBS slips Trump’s name into Kennedy Center Honors broadcast via voiceover amid rebranding controversy

Trump became the first sitting president to preside over the annual ceremony, which has become embroiled in controversy over his push to add his name to the institution's title.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on December 24, 2025 11:12 p.m. ET

Donald Trump at the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 23. Credit:

Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty

The Kennedy Center Honors held its annual ceremony before its board voted to add President Donald Trump's name to its title, but CBS still found a way to honor the controversial name-change during its broadcast.

When the ceremony, which took place in Washington D.C. on Dec. 7, aired Tuesday evening on CBS, the network added a voiceover saying, "And now, the Trump Kennedy Center Honors on CBS," while a title card flashed reading, "The following is a Donald J. Trump and Kennedy Center Production."

Trump then took the stage, becoming the first sitting president to host the ceremony. But according to *The Washington Post*, CBS significantly cut Trump's 12-minute opening monologue to a mere two minutes, removing a joke about the crowd being full of "miserable, horrible people."

The network's news division also implemented a policy to omit Trump's name from the Kennedy Center name in ongoing coverage, according to the *Post. ***

Donald Trump hosts the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.

Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty

"On Tuesday, CBS will broadcast the annual Kennedy Center Honors," wrote CBS News senior director of standards and practices Jack Renaud in an email to his colleagues, which the *Post *says it obtained ahead of the ceremony. "Yesterday, the newly appointed board of the Kennedy Center voted to change the facility's name to the Trump-Kennedy Center... But it would take Congressional approval to officially change the name."

Renaud then concluded, according to the outlet, "Therefore, CBS News will continue to use the 'Kennedy Center,'" and "if the president or other administration officials use the new name in a soundbite, that is their prerogative."

* *has reached out to representatives for the White House and CBS for comment.

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Trump has made much of the Kennedy Center name change after the institution's board "voted unanimously" to approve it, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted in a Dec. 18 social media post. But Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who sits on the board, disputed that claim, saying she was prevented from casting her true vote.

"For the record. This was not unanimous," she explained in a response to Leavitt's post. "I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also, for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship."

Still, Trump trumpeted the broadcast of the "TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER HONORS" in a post to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, hours before the ceremony was to take place.

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Donald Trump and Stephen Colbert.

Alex Wong/Getty; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

This is the latest development in the ongoing conflict between Trump and CBS. The network's parent company, Paramount Global, agreed in July to pay the president $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of a *60 Minutes* interview with his 2024 presidential opponent, Kamala Harris. That same month, the network axed* The Late Show With Stephen Colbert*, following Trump's continuous criticism of its host.

Some critics characterized the move as Paramount's attempt to silence one of the president's most prominent critics ahead of their bid to merge with Skydance Media, which was founded by Trump backer David Ellison.

The effects of a new, Trump-friendly regime at Paramount can already be felt at CBS News, which landed in hot water this month after new boss Bari Weiss pulled a segment covering the Trump administration's new policy of deporting Venezuelan men to CECOT, a notorious, maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

Longtime *60 Minutes *correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi slammed the decision as "political," warning that even the venerable investigative news program now faces the prospect of going "from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state."**

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