Country musician George Strait, action movie star Sylvester Stallone and rock band Kiss will be celebrated with the 2025 Kennedy Centre honours, one of US’s highest accolades in performing arts, President Donald Trump says.

English stage actor Michael Crawford, known for The Phantom of the Opera, and I Will Survive singer Gloria Gaynor will also be honoured at the event later this year.

Trump said he was asked to host the event, which will air on CBS in December, and reluctantly accepted.

“I didn’t want to do it, OK?” Trump said.

“They’re going to say he insisted. I did not insist. But I think it will be quite successful.”

Trump arrived at the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts on Wednesday (local time) to unveil its 2025 honourees for artistic excellence and tout a major renovation as lawmakers push to rename the venue for the Republican President.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump teased the announcement, saying, “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTRE, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTRE, AWARDS.”

Trump also hinted at a physical overhaul of the centre in Washington DC, saying he planned to restore it to the “absolutely top level of luxury, glamour, and entertainment”.

Trump said he will “fully renovate” the entire infrastructure of the Kennedy Centre to make it a “crown jewel” of arts and culture in the US.

“We’re going to bring it to a higher level than it ever hit,” he said, adding the venue would be featured in next year’s celebrations of the country’s 250th anniversary.

Since returning to power in January, Trump has sought to put his stamp on US culture and institutions to align them closer with his political and personal preferences.

This week, his administration ordered a review of some Smithsonian museums and exhibitions to “remove divisive or partisan narratives”.

At the White House, Trump has added gold leaf to the Oval Office, paved over the Rose Garden and embarked on plans for a $US200-million ($306 million) ballroom.

Trump did not attend events at the Kennedy Centre during his first term. He has taken a keen interest in it during his second, vowing to overhaul an institution he and his “Make America Great Again” supporters consider to be too progressive.

He pushed out its chairman in February and took on the role himself, fired its long-time president, and installed his former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, as interim president.

In a post on X, the Kennedy Centre said its building — which opened in September 1971 — would undergo renovations thanks to Trump’s advocacy aimed at restoring its “prestige and grandeur”.

-with AP