President Donald Trump will join the opening ceremony of the White House-backed “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall, the organizer said Saturday, just hours after Trump excoriated music artists who dropped out of the event.
Trump said on Truth Social Saturday night that it would be better to have a “giant” MAGA rally instead of having “overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain.”
“Cancel it, just like I canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge, said that I should not be allowed to spend my time and money in order to MAKE THE CENTER GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said, referring to a judge’s ruling on Friday that his name must be removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for the White House initiative Freedom 250, said in a statement that Trump will “personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24 in an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday.”
Earlier in the day, Trump had railed against artists who distanced themselves from the event celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary, saying in a Truth Social post that they “get paid far too much money” and “aren’t happy.” He said he was considering replacing them with the “number one attraction anywhere in the world”: himself.
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The artists — many of whom have had successful decades-long careers — are “getting ‘the yips’” about having to perform at the event, he wrote. “So I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and 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,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President.”
Almost all the artists who were included in the lineup for the two-week event have said they will not perform, citing its political affiliation. Freedom 250 threatens to overshadow programs organized by America250, a nonpartisan organization established by Congress in 2016 to organize events this year commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The newly founded Trump-backed group has caused confusion for celebrities and corporate sponsors who intended to participate in the official semiquincentennial group.
“We’ve got incredible momentum,” a spokeswoman for America250 said in a statement. “Already, America250 has shown up in some of the biggest moments in culture and sports, from ringing in the New Year in Times Square and appearing in the Rose Parade, to the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.”
The artists who have not pulled out the Trump-headlined event — including Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida — have been roundly criticized for their participation.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.