Donald Trump posted a message calling for the cancellation of the United States' 250th anniversary concert after many artists withdrew due to political associations.
On 31 May 2026, Donald Trump, President of the United States, said the musical performance celebrating the country's 250th anniversary, known as the "Great American State Fair," should be canceled after several artists collectively withdrew, citing political connections as their reason.
“Cancel it altogether,” Trump posted on the Truth Social platform, criticizing the artists listed to perform as "overpriced" and "boring."
As of Sunday (31 May), only a few artists remained scheduled to perform out of the original nine headliners announced, with artists such as Martina McBride, The Commodores, Young MC, and Bret Michaels having already withdrawn.
Currently, only Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli remain scheduled to perform on 26 June, along with Flo Rida on 2 July. Trump stated he is considering turning the event into a “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” campaign rally instead.
“I am instructing my representatives to explore the possibility of holding an AMERICA IS BACK Rally this Wednesday in Washington, D.C., at the same time and place. Only great patriots are invited,” Trump said, praising himself as “the world’s number one attraction everywhere” and claiming he “can draw bigger crowds than Elvis Presley at his peak.”
Trump reiterated his position, stating he wants to cancel the planned fair entirely and replace it with a campaign rally. “We should hold a huge MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY for the 250th anniversary instead of hiring overpriced singers nobody wants to hear. Their music is boring and they do nothing but complain,” he said.
Freedom 250, the group behind organizing the “Great American State Fair,” was appointed and established last year by the Trump administration, with the president himself appointing its CEO. However, the group insists the event is nonpartisan and not politically aligned.
Nevertheless, the White House has collaborated with Freedom 250 to organize the fair as part of a "once-in-a-lifetime series of events to celebrate America's significant anniversary." Additionally, last Saturday Freedom 250 announced that President Trump would lead the opening ceremony of the fair.
On Wednesday (27 May), Freedom 250 unveiled the lineup of artists for the 16-day event, scheduled at the National Mall in front of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., from 25 June to 10 July.
Originally, country singer Martina McBride was set to perform on opening night, and Bret Michaels, lead singer of Poison, was scheduled for 3 July, the night before Independence Day, but both have since canceled their performances.
Young MC, known for the 1989 hit “Bust a Move,” posted on his social media that artists were not informed about any "political involvement in the event" and he looks forward to performing in Washington, D.C., at future events "without such tense political issues."
McBride stated in a message on platform X that she "was offered the opportunity to perform at an event described as nonpartisan, but ultimately that information was misleading."
In contrast, Vanilla Ice captioned a video on his Instagram account saying, “This is not a political stage. This is a celebration of America's birthday.”
Meanwhile, Fab Morvan, one of the two frontmen of Milli Vanilli, said he will still perform as scheduled. However, the actual vocalists behind Milli Vanilli issued a statement on X saying they would not participate in the event.
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Source:bbc