US President Donald Trump today announced the winners of the Kennedy Center Awards, Washington’s prestigious cultural center whose board of directors he recently took control of, including Silvester Stallone and Gloria Gaynor.

The US president also said he will chair a reception during which the awards will be presented, which takes place in December and is broadcast on the US television network CBS.

“We put an end to the political woke” of this major entertainment venue, he told reporters inside the massive building on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

Sylvester Stallone, aged 79, a three-time Academy Award nominee, is one of the most famous actors in American cinema, particularly for his role as Rocky Balboa in the Rocky films.

He was symbolically appointed as one of Donald Trump’s “ambassadors” in Hollywood in order to be the president’s “eyes and ears” within the film industry, which is largely favorable to Democrats. The actor had for his part described Trump as the “second George Washington”, referring to the father of the American nation and first US president.

That list also includes Gloria Gaynor, 81, the singer of “I Will Survive”, or George Straight, 73, a country music legend, a genre traditionally prized by conservatives.

The rock band KISS, founded in the 1970s in the president’s hometown of New York, and British actor Michael Crawford, 83, best known for his role in “Phantom of the Opera,” are among the honorees.

A true center of culture, the Kennedy Center has an opera house, a theater hall and a symphony orchestra.

After his reelection in January, the White House took control of the Kennedy Center. After reshaping the board in mid-February, he eliminated “woke” culture from its ranks.