Comedian Bill Maher, a critic of President Trump, will receive the Trump Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the performing arts center announced Thursday after the White House denied earlier reports.

The annual award will be presented to Maher on June 28, before the Trump Kennedy Center closes for a two-year renovation, CNN reported.

“Thank you to the Mark Twain people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win,” Maher joked in a statement. “I’d just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain.”

The Trump Kennedy Center's vice president of public relations, Roma Daravi, on Thursday announced that Maher would receive the award.

“For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy,” Daravi said. “For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse – one politically incorrect joke at a time.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously told CNN after reports last week that Maher would receive the Mark Twain Prize, “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.”

Maher has been critical of Trump’s policies on his HBO program “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

While Maher has been a target of Trump’s criticism, he also faced backlash after having dinner with Trump at the White House last year and praising him. The dinner was arranged by entertainer Kid Rock to give Maher and Trump an opportunity to speak directly.

Despite the dinner and Maher's subsequent praise of Trump, their relationship has remained tense, with the president criticizing the comedian last month, calling him a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT.”

The Mark Twain Prize has previously been awarded to Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, and Adam Sandler. Typically, a gala is held at the Kennedy Center to present the award.