Trump to award freedom medals to Elvis, Babe Ruth

[November 12, 2018]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will award the 2018 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Elvis Presley, George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr. and five other individuals, the White House said in a statement on Saturday.

The medal is the highest civilian honor in the United States and is given annually to people who have made outstanding contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Trump will also award the medal to Miriam Adelson, a physician who together with her husband Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate, is a major donor to the Republican party, Jewish causes worldwide, and medical research.

Also receiving the award next week will be Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and the first African-American to serve on that court Alan Page, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and former professional football player Roger Staubach.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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