Artists drop out of Trump-backed Freedom 250 concert; President mulls rally
Multiple performers have withdrawn from the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event on the National Mall in Washington DC from June 25 to July 10 celebrating the US 250th anniversary. The event is organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit launched by the Trump administration, which claims it is nonpartisan. Artists including Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores, Bret Michaels, and Martina McBride have pulled out, citing they were misled about political affiliations. President Donald Trump criticized them as 'third rate' on Truth Social and suggested he might instead hold an 'AMERICA IS BACK Rally' at the same time and location. Young MC stated artists were not informed of political involvement; Morris Day posted 'It's A No For Me'; the Commodores said they choose not to affiliate with any party; McBride called the event misleading; Michaels cited divisiveness and safety concerns. Rappers Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice, Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, and C+C Music Factory's Freedom Williams are still slated to perform. Vanilla Ice said it's 'not a political platform.' The original vocalists of Milli Vanilli said they will not perform. Freedom 250 has not announced lineup changes. The White House is backing multiple events for the 250th anniversary, including a UFC fight and a Grand Prix.
Key facts
- Multiple artists dropped out of the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event on the National Mall in Washington DC from June 25 to July 10.
- Freedom 250, a nonprofit launched by the Trump administration, organized the event and claims it is nonpartisan.
- Artists including Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores, Bret Michaels, and Martina McBride withdrew, saying they were misled about political involvement.
- President Donald Trump called the artists 'third rate' and suggested he might hold a rally instead.
- Young MC said artists were not told about 'political involvement with the event.'
- Morris Day posted 'It's A No For Me' on Instagram.
- The Commodores stated they 'choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.'
- Martina McBride said the event was presented as nonpartisan but turned out to be misleading.
- Bret Michaels cited divisiveness and safety concerns.
- Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice, Fab Morvan, and Freedom Williams are still scheduled to perform.
- The original vocalists of Milli Vanilli said they will not perform.
- Freedom 250 has not announced lineup changes.
- The White House is backing multiple events for the 250th anniversary, including a UFC fight and a Grand Prix.
Entities
Artists
- Young MC
- Morris Day
- the Commodores
- Bret Michaels
- Martina McBride
- Flo Rida
- Vanilla Ice
- Fab Morvan
- Freedom Williams
- Robert Matthew Van Winkle
- Rob Pilatus
- Keith Krach
Institutions
- Freedom 250
- Great American State Fair
- White House
- UFC
- Truth Social
- X
- The Great American State Fair
- The Guardian
- Associated Press
Locations
- Washington DC
- United States
- National Mall
- Washington, D.C.