Sean Hannity, along with other Fox News stars, honored Donald Trump during Fox Nation’s awards show. This shows the influence the network will have in the future.

Fox News stars honoured Donald Trump on Thursday at the annual Fox Nation Patriots Awards. The president-elect thanked the “incredible” people at Fox as he received an award from the cable television’s most powerful news force as “Honorary Patriots of the Year”.

Trump’s brief acceptance speech began by mentioning his complaints against the network, and that “a few” of its employees he dislikes. Trump complained about Fox’s coverage on his political opponents and President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election. But the event served as a reminder that despite Trump griping, their relationship has been longstanding, sometimes troubled, and mutually beneficial.

Trump spent most of the time since Election Day at his Mar-a-Lago Club, located in West Palm Beach. His decision to fly from Florida to Long Island, to accept an award for Fox Nation, a streaming service offered by the TV network, shows the influence Fox will have when Trump returns to his White House.

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Trump’s tone was different from his previous post on Truth Social, where he criticised Fox News for its interview with Vice-President Kamala Harris, and said the network had “grown weak and soft towards the Democrats.”

He wrote, “FoxNews is totally out of control!”

During Trump’s first tenure, Fox and its most popular hosts influenced the president’s policy and public statements. Trump was a regular viewer of the network, calling in himself or tweeting his responses in real-time to their reports.

Before returning to the White House in January, Trump has appointed many former network hosts, contributors, and guests in important roles within his administration. This includes Pete Hegseth who is his controversial pick for Defense Secretary.

Hegseth’s confirmation battle was a cloud over the event. Hegseth had been scheduled to be the emcee of the concert at Long Island University’s Tilles Center. The video montage that was shown during the event featured clips of Hegseth talking on TV about the 2014 Veteran Affairs scandal.

Will Cain said, “As an aside, I thought there was someone who looked, I don’t think you thought, like they would be a hell of a Secretary of Defense.” Cain co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend before Hegseth left to pursue the Pentagon position.

Paula Pedene – a former spokeswoman at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Hospital who whistleblowed mismanagement in the facility – also spoke highly of Hegseth when she accepted a prize.

Pedene stated, “Thank goodness Pete Hegseth was working with Concerned Veterans for America before coming to Fox News. They helped us.” “They fixed it.”

Sean Hannity, Fox’s event host, honored several charities in the two-plus hours that preceded Trump’s arrival. He even brought onstage dogs from Paws of War – a group which provides service dogs for veterans and their families, especially those with post-traumatic disorder. The college auditorium is smaller than the venue of last year, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. The walls and ceilings of the arts center were decorated with American flags and red, white, and blue balloons. In the auditorium were a few MAGA and Trump hats. Although most people wore business casual clothing, others wore ball gowns or sleek suits.

Trump’s remarks echoed the stump speech he gave on his campaign trail. He complained that the 2020 presidential election was “a very unfair situation”, and suggested without any basis that Democrats were trying to “rig” it. He praised his recent tariff threats against Canada and Mexico, and repeated his unsupported claim that other countries were emptying their “mental asylums” and “insane institutions” in order to send immigrants to America.

Trump had announced earlier in the evening a number of nominations and appointments. These included Caleb Vitello, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rodney Scott, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, former Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia, as U.S. Ambassador to China, and former National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, as U.S. Ambassador to Chile.

To escape the below-freezing temperature and high winds, people ran outside from their cars, past large, illuminated letters spelling out “Patriot Awards”. In the overflowing parking lot, a Tesla Cybertruck was parked. Few students were outside but some stopped for photos. The students said that they were either excited or indifferent about Trump’s visit, and that nobody had protested.

Fox Nation was experiencing streaming problems before Trump’s remarks. Some users reported on social media they couldn’t access the service. Fox’s spokesperson said that the problems were caused by an overwhelming amount of demand, but she did not share any specific numbers on how many people attempted to log in.

Trump’s remarks concluded the same way as most of his campaigns rallies — by dancing onstage before leaving to the Village People 1978 hit song “Y.M.C.A.”