{"id":705561,"date":"2026-05-31T03:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T03:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/705561\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T03:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T03:45:11","slug":"donald-trump-to-headline-great-american-state-fair-for-250th-anniversary-after-artists-drop-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/705561\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump to headline Great American State Fair for 250th anniversary after artists drop out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Days after several musical acts pulled out of the Great American State Fair in Washington DC, US President Donald Trump says he will “give a major speech, rallying the country” instead.<\/p>\n

“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance,” Mr Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social.<\/p>\n

He added he would “take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech”.<\/p>\n

For its 250th birthday, America is being America<\/a><\/p>\n

It is entirely fitting that the US is so splintered on its semiquincentennial. Division, for the lion’s share of its history, has been its default.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Morris Day and The Time and The Commodores all said they would not perform after alleging they were misled about the nature of the event.<\/p>\n

Speaking about himself in third person, Mr Trump said he was “thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World \u2026 the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP”.<\/p>\n

The organisers of the event, Freedom 250, confirmed the US president would now headline the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

“As the visionary behind the Great American State Fair, we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration,” Freedom250 spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The concerts were planned as the opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair<\/a>, a 16-day event running from June 25 to July 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

According to the Freedom 250 group, the event will stretch on the National Mall from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument, with concert stages, state pavilions, exhibits, rides, and other attractions.<\/p>\n

\"Martina<\/p>\n

Martina McBride is one of the artists who has pulled out of the event. (Reuters: Seth Herald)<\/p>\n

But the musical line-up has been hit by a series of cancellations.<\/p>\n

Organisers have not publicly detailed the reasons for the artist withdrawals, though the exits have raised questions about the viability of the event as originally envisioned.<\/p>\n

In the same social media post, Mr Trump suggested the concert series may no longer be necessary if performers continue to back out.<\/p>\n

He floated the possibility of giving a speech on the National Mall instead, portraying himself as a more powerful draw than any musical act.<\/p>\n

He said that he gets “much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime” and “does so without a guitar”.<\/p>\n

“I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally.”<\/p>\n

Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership created by the White House to coordinate celebrations of the United States’ 250th anniversary alongside federal agencies.<\/p>\n

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