Trump says he will host Kennedy Center awards and rejected liberal artists

President, set to honor Sylvester Stallone and Kiss, says he was 98%' involved in selections and turned down plenty'

Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will host the Kennedy Center honors this year and said he had been heavily involved in choosing who to nominate, rejecting people he thought were too liberal.

The US president named actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss, country music star George Strait and actor and singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Center honors nominees since he took over as the Washington-based arts center's chairman upon returning to the White House this year.