WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have elected not to attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors in December.
The announcement comes as three of the five honorees -- television producer Norman Lear, singer Lionel Richie and dancer Carmen de Lavallade -- said they would or may boycott the traditional White House reception related to the awards program. That reception will not take place this year, the first such cancellation in the awards' history.
Kennedy Center board chairman David Rubenstein and president Deborah Rutter said in a statement that they respected Trump's decision not to attend the Dec. 3 awards program and were "grateful" that the spotlight would be focused on this year's honorees at the gala.
A Section on 08/20/2017