Trump avoided the Kennedy Center Honors during his first term after artists said they would not attend out of protest. This year, the Republican president has taken over as the Kennedy Center’s new chairman and fired the board of trustees, which he replaced with loyalists.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would host this year's Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, the latest move by the president to revamp a Washington, D.C., cultural institution in his image.

Trump in his first term had chafed at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony. He skipped the ceremony repeatedly, with some artists pledging to boycott if he attended. It was White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Trump said Wednesday, who convinced him to host the honors this year.