Highlights
- Trump weighs canceling Freedom 250 concerts, eyeing an “AMERICA IS BACK Rally” speech instead
- Six of nine announced acts dropped out, claiming they were misled about the event’s political ties
- Milli Vanilli’s participation became its own drama, with competing factions claiming different answers
President Donald Trump is considering pulling the plug on the Freedom 250 concerts meant to celebrate America’s 250th birthday after a remarkable chunk of the announced lineup did what any savvy performer would do and bolted for the exits.
Trump said Saturday he is weighing whether to cancel the concerts entirely and swap them for what he called an “AMERICA IS BACK Rally,” where he would “give a major speech, rallying the Country forward.” He described the potential replacement as a “Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America.”
The Great American State Fair, the concert component of the broader Freedom 250 initiative, was set to run June 25 through July 10 on Washington’s National Mall. It was organized by Freedom 250, which is billed as a nonpartisan organization but was launched by President Trump and is headed by a Trump State Department appointee from his first term, businessman-philanthropist Keith Krach.
The whole thing started unraveling almost immediately after the lineup dropped Wednesday. Six scheduled performers, Morris Day, Young MC, Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Milli Vanilli and The Commodores, have withdrawn since the concert lineup was announced. That left Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory and Flo Rida still theoretically on the bill.
All of the artists who have pulled out suggested they were misled about the event’s political associations.
Martina McBride, the country star, wrote in an Instagram post, “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”
— Martina McBride (@martinamcbride) May 29, 2026
Young MC was equally blunt. He announced on Facebook, “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT. The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event.” The rapper told Rolling Stone the concert was a “bait-and-switch.”
Bret Michaels, who was the fifth act to formally exit, had initially believed the shows would be a chance to honor veterans and working Americans but ultimately concluded the event had “evolved into something much more divisive” and cited “threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable.”
Then there was the Milli Vanilli situation, which managed to be even more chaotic than everything else. Singer Jodie Rocco told the Associated Press she was “shocked to see our name” on the lineup, saying neither she nor any of the actual performers who provided the vocals for the lip-syncing duo had been approached. Fab Morvan, the surviving frontman of the act, separately posted that he felt “honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair.” So Milli Vanilli both is and is not performing, which is honestly very on brand.
The internet, for its part, had a field day. One writer quipped on social media, “I’m sorry, if you had pitched ‘Donald Trump will get Milli Vanilli to play in honor of America’s 250th birthday’ as a joke on Weekend Update they would have laughed you out of the room.”
Not everyone fled. Vanilla Ice, a vocal Trump supporter who has performed at Mar-a-Lago several times, said in a TikTok video, “I’m super honored to do this concert. We don’t take anything too serious, man.”
And then there was C+C Music Factory’s Freedom Williams, who defended his decision to stick around via a seven-minute video filmed, per his own disclosure, from a bathroom. He said he “will vote for Genghis Khan, Hitler, and Ivan the Terrible before I let you tell me what to do,” making his position on outside pressure abundantly clear.
Freedom 250 spokeswoman Rachel Reisner said in a statement that “Freedom 250 is focused on our signature celebrations and events that honor our history and engage all Americans.”
Organizers also noted that every state’s governor had been invited to attend. Whether the governors RSVP’d is, at this point, anyone’s guess.
The Freedom 500 keyword, the broader banner under which Trump’s anniversary ambitions have been promoted, was always going to be a tough sell in today’s climate. Artists on both ends of the political spectrum have spent years dodging association with anything that could alienate their fanbases. Since Trump had his own name placed on the Kennedy Center’s facade, numerous artists including Bela Fleck, Renée Fleming and Issa Rae called off scheduled appearances.
Whether Trump ultimately cancels the concerts or finds a fresh roster willing to take the stage, the Great American State Fair has already made history in at least one respect: it may be the first concert lineup in memory to lose two-thirds of its performers before a single note was played.
