Trump to headline fair for US’s 250th anniversary after artists drop out

As some performers back away from ‘Great American State Fair’ due to ties to president, he calls their music ‘boring’ and claims he gets ‘larger audiences than Elvis in his prime’

WASHINGTON (AP) — An upcoming celebration of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, “The Great American State Fair,” recently had several musical guests back out, partly over the event’s ties to US President Donald Trump. Now, Trump himself is slated to headline the festivities, the organizers said Saturday.

“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance,” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social Saturday, adding that he was thinking of bringing “the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”

The group organizing the June fair on Washington’s National Mall, Freedom 250, confirmed the billing in a statement, writing: “We are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24.”

Trump’s social media post twice referenced him holding a rally “Wednesday,” without a specific date. The White House did not immediately clarify the discrepancy.

Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, emphasized that the broader fair that is scheduled from June 25 through July 10 includes an array of exhibits, family-friendly attractions, musical performances, flyovers and more.

In another post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump suggested the concert series may no longer be necessary if performers continue to back out. He floated the possibility of giving a speech on the National Mall instead, portraying himself as a more powerful draw than any musical act.

“The fact is that I am, according to many, the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. He added that he gets “much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime” and “does so without a guitar.”

The president said he was “ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally.”

Trump was dismissive of the acts that backed out, suggesting that the solution is to “Cancel it.”

“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” Trump said on social media.

Freedom 250 is billed as nonpartisan, but was launched last year by Trump and is led by a former State Department appointee from Trump’s first term. Several artists, including Bret Michaels, the Commodores and Martina McBride, dropped out last week.

Michaels and other artists have said that they were misled about the theme of the shows or were otherwise wary of being caught up in a political fight. McBride, in a statement on Instagram, said she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

Other artists plan to attend, including Flo Rida, Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice. The latter’s representative previously said that the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper was “proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”

It remains unclear whether replacement musicians will be recruited, or whether Trump’s proposal to substitute a rally for the performances is being seriously considered by organizers.