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POTUS Dumps ’90s Acts From America Bash And Announces New Headliner

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Photo Credit: "Donald Trump" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

President Donald Trump is turning his embattled Freedom 250 celebration into a MAGA-sized rally after a string of performers ditched the America-themed bash, and he says he does not need the ’90s nostalgia acts anyway.

Trump announced that Lee Greenwood, military bands and MAGA opera singer Christopher Macchio would perform at the June 24 event in Washington, D.C., after several artists backed away from the broader Great American State Fair lineup.

“We will be bringing you, LIVE, the Greatest Rally, EVER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years!”

The president said Greenwood would introduce him with “God Bless the U.S.A.,” his signature rally anthem.

“We will have the fabulous Lee Greenwood introducing me with what has turned out to be one of the Greatest Hits of All Time, GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.,” Trump wrote.

Macchio, who has performed at Trump events before, is also slated to sing several selections, including “Nessun Dorma,” “Hallelujah,” “Ave Maria” and “God Bless America.”

“Not since the legendary Luciano Pavarotti has there been such a voice!” Trump wrote.

The president also said the Army Band, the U.S. Marine Band and the Joint Armed Forces Chorus would perform.

The announcement came after the lineup for the Freedom 250-linked Great American State Fair began falling apart under political pressure.

The 16-day festival is scheduled to run from June 25 to July 10 on the National Mall as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.

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The celebration is being coordinated by Freedom 250, a nonprofit group aligned with Trump that is partnering with the White House’s Task Force 250 on plans for the nation’s semiquincentennial festivities.

Trump, however, brushed off the exodus of celebrity performers and suggested he would be the main draw himself.

“It will be special at every level — A Rally to end all Rallies!” he said.

“We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home.”

In another Truth Social post, Trump floated turning the celebration into an “AMERICA IS BACK Rally” and called himself the “Number One Attraction anywhere in the World.”

He also compared himself to Elvis Presley, arguing that unlike “The King,” he only needed a microphone and a speech to draw crowds larger than Presley’s in his prime.

“I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally,” Trump wrote.

“Same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited – It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!”

The shake-up followed a wave of withdrawals from artists who had initially been attached to the fair.

Poison frontman Bret Michaels said he would no longer perform after what he thought was a patriotic music festival became something more divisive.

“When this opportunity was originally presented to my team, it was described as a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life,” Michaels wrote in an Instagram statement.

“Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,” he added.

“Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable. Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”

Country singer Martina McBride also pulled out, saying she believed she had been invited to a nonpartisan celebration of all 50 states.

“I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25th,” McBride wrote.

She said she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event,” but that the show “turned out to be misleading.”

McBride said she believed the fair would be “a bigger version” of other state fairs she had played throughout her career before “things started changing.”

“I’ve spent my entire career singing songs about real people with real issues. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to be a voice for those who have felt like they didn’t have one,” she wrote.

“It greatly upsets me that any fan who has been moved by my music may now feel like I’m abandoning the meaning behind those songs.”

Morris Day, Young MC, the Commodores and others also dropped out.

Vanilla Ice, however, is staying put. The “Ice, Ice Baby” rapper told Fox News that he remains “100%” committed to performing and said the backlash has only strengthened his resolve.

“I’m reinforced. I’m here. I am committed. Once you commit, you don’t quit, man. And that’s how I am,” he remarked.

He said he was honored to be invited and rejected the idea that the celebration should be treated as a political event.

“I was so honored, man, my mom is proud of me, everybody,” Vanilla Ice added. “It’s such a cool thing to go celebrate your country and enjoy the birthday.”

“And the way the people are dragging this into politics, it’s not fair,” he went on. “It is not fair to us as entertainers for sure. And I think that this shouldn’t be looked at as political or anything.”

Vanilla Ice also defended his relationship with Trump. “I’m happy that Trump’s putting this on,” he commented.

“I’m honored that he invited me. I’ve played for him many times. They’re great friends of mine.”

The rapper, born Robert Van Winkle, said he lives in Palm Beach, Florida, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

“They’re really good people. They’ve shown me a great time,” he said. “I enjoy them.”

Vanilla Ice said he does not involve himself in politics. “I don’t vote,” he said. “I don’t waste my time with that.”

“It’s more about pina coladas and palm trees with me,” he remarked. “I don’t take any of these things serious, especially this whole mess. But some people do and I respect them all, man.”

The collapsing lineup also became late-night fodder. Jon Stewart mocked the revelation that some of the bookings were handled by a promoter named Jeff Epstein.

“How bad do you feel for that guy? After years of being, ‘No, not-that-Epstein,’ he finally gets all his acts booked. It’s all coming up Epstein. And the acts collapse. He finally thought he was gonna get his happy ending,” Stewart joked.

“Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver ridiculed the original lineup last weekend.

“It is a stacked lineup of people that you haven’t thought about since 2009,” Oliver quipped. “Honestly, that sounds less like America’s 250th birthday and more like the playlist at Rhonda’s 50th.”

“The only really surprising thing about that lineup is there aren’t special appearances from the ShamWow guy and the Gushers kid whose head turned into a raspberry.”

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