American President Donald Trump had previously said that “just about everybody else in America” wanted him to host the Kennedy Center Honors. However, the declining viewership numbers after his debut as the host on Tuesday suggest something opposite to what he had so confidently claimed.
According to Programming Insider, the initial ratings of CBS’s broadcast of the event showed the least number of audience in the history of the program. As reported by The Daily Beast, “The 48th Kennedy Center Honors averaged roughly 2.65 million viewers on Tuesday, falling far short of the 4.1 million who tuned in for the 2024 ceremony, the outlet reported—a decline of more than 35 percent.”
Trump, however, had been so obsessed with hosting the show that he took to Truth Social to ponder the possibility of him becoming a full-time award show host. Addressing the matter, he posted, “Tell me what you think of my ‘Master of Ceremony’ abilities. If really good, would you like me to leave the presidency in order to make ‘hosting’ a full-time job?” The audience clearly gave its answer, as is evident from the viewership numbers of Trump’s debut as the host.
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It should be noted here that Trump is the first president in history to take up the role of an emcee at the Kennedy Center Honors. Moreover, he also renamed the event as “THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER HONORS” after several Trump allies voted in support of adding the president’s name to the memorial, which carries the legacy of John F. Kennedy.
While Trump is well known for placing his name on existing monuments and other places of importance, the decision was not well taken by the Kennedy family and various artists who believe that the President has no right to change the name of a place that carries so much history within its walls.
Talking about the name change, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “These people are pathetic. They are sycophants. And these are individuals right now who are bending the knee to a loser. They don’t have the power to do it. Only Congress can rename the Kennedy Center.”
Kennedy Center board member, Rep. Joyce Beatty, voiced similar concerns, saying, “For the record, this was not unanimous. 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 the consensus. This is censorship.”
JFK’s niece, Maria Shriver, talked about the name change and said, “The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor… It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
CBS also did not go along with the inclusion of Trump’s name and kept the name to Kennedy Center Honors, given the backlash and lack of support from Congress. Moreover, Trump’s speech, including his opening remarks, which were initially 12 minutes long, was brutally edited to two minutes or so. CBS also aired most of Trump’s pre-recorded sections from the Oval Office, which meant that his on-stage presence during the ceremony was also edited and limited.
Sections of Trump’s random jokes that only he and his loyalists would find funny were also cut off by the network. One such instance includes cutting Trump, saying, “If there is one thread that connects all of these amazing artists together, it is the word ‘persistence.’ I know so many of you, and you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. But you are persistent, you never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.”
TV analyst Joe Adalian spoke about the poor ratings of the show, saying, “Data is wonky right now with Nielsen’s new big data panel. But in prelims, KenCen did just 2.65M. Even with a 25% lift, the show still finishes in the mid-3M range– well below last year. In demos, it’s even more of a massacre– currently at a 0.14, roughly HALF of 2024 show.”
Last year, the KENNEDY CENTER HONORS scored its smallest audience ever (4.1M viewers)
In 2022, it did 5.2M viewers
Still too early for a final number, but based on early data, so-called “Trump” KenCenter Honors will be least-watched ever and may lose to HIGH POTENTIAL reruns
— TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) December 24, 2025
Trump’s hosting the awards not only led to a sharp dip in the viewership numbers but also saw the cancellation of performances from various artists in protest of his overt involvement with the Kennedy Center.
Now with the lowest-ever viewership numbers, it would be interesting to see the reaction of the President himself, given how often he berates artists and TV networks and thinks so highly of himself as a host and a media personality.
