Donald Trump appeared to mispronounce Sylvester Stallone’s name while awarding him a medal as a Kennedy Center honoree on Saturday.
The president, 79, has a history of mispronouncing words like acetaminophen or the names of his political opponents. However, during a ceremony at the Oval Office, Trump flubbed the name of his own friend and supporter by dropping the “t” from the actor’s last name — twice.
Trump introduced Stallone as “a friend of mine, a wonderful person, a really spectacular person, one of the true great movie stars there are,” before reading out his name as “Sallone.”
He then repeated the mispronunciation as he put a medallion around Stallone’s neck. The Rocky actor, 79, did not react to the mistake, but reactions to the blunder quickly poured in on social media.
“Trump is so out of it that he can’t even pronounce Sylvester Stallone’s name…yesterday as he presented Stallone with his Kennedy Center medal he mispronounced his last name twice as ‘Sallone,’” one person wrote on X.
Another added, “Trump should have rehearsed. Stallone, NOT Sallone.”
“Sly Salone he says,” a third wrote.
Others were unimpressed with how the president read the introductions during the event.
“Why does every Trump intro sound like he’s discovering the person as he’s speaking?” one user wrote, adding: “He introduces people like he’s reading off a Hallmark card written at 3 a.m.”
Stallone was chosen as a 2025 Kennedy Center honoree alongside singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band Kiss, and actor Michael Crawford. The artists will be recognized at Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors event, which will be hosted by Trump and feature a series of performances and tribute speeches.
“This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans,” said Trump, donning a tuxedo for the event. “This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled.”
Stallone is a public supporter of Trump and praised him as a “mythical creature” after he won the presidential election last year.
“We’re in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology. This individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe,” Stallone said at the time. He went on to call Trump “the second George Washington.”
Stallone was named one of Trump’s three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood earlier this year, along with Jon Voight and Mel Gibson, though it was never made clear what the job entails.
