US President Donald Trump has called for the cancellation of a festival celebrating America’s 250th anniversary after several artists withdrew from the event over its ties to the White House.
“Cancel it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, describing the planned performers as “overpriced” and “boring” after a growing number of artists pulled out of the Freedom 250 festival.
The event, organised by the White House-backed Freedom 250 group, was launched last year by the Trump administration as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. While the organisation describes itself as non-partisan, several performers said they were unaware of the extent of the event’s political connections when they agreed to take part.
By Sunday, only a handful of artists remained on the programme from the nine acts originally announced on Wednesday. Those who have withdrawn include country singer Martina McBride, The Commodores, rapper Young MC and Poison frontman Bret Michaels.
Artists still scheduled to perform include Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli and Flo Rida.
Trump suggested replacing the festival with a political gathering.
“I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, DC, same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited,” he wrote.
The president also described himself as the “Number One Attraction anywhere in the World” and said he “gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime”.
He later intensified his criticism of the event’s departing performers.
“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.
Freedom 250 announced on Saturday that Trump would headline the opening ceremony of the fair on 24 June.
“As the visionary behind the Great American State Fair, we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24 in an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday,” spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said.
The Great American State Fair is scheduled to run for 16 days on the National Mall in Washington, DC, between 25 June and 10 July.
Young MC, best known for his hit song Bust a Move, said on social media that performers had not been informed about any “political involvement with the event” and that he hoped to return to Washington in future for an event that was “not so politically charged”.
McBride said on X that she was “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading”.
Vanilla Ice defended his participation, saying on Instagram: “This is not a political platform. This is celebrating America’s birthday.”
Meanwhile, Fab Morvan said he still plans to perform, although the singers who provided the vocals behind Milli Vanilli’s recordings said they would not take part.
The White House is backing several Freedom 250 initiatives to mark the anniversary, including a UFC event on the South Lawn, the Great American State Fair and a Grand Prix race planned for Washington later in the year. The administration also plans to release a limited number of commemorative US passports featuring a portrait of Trump.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
