Trump to open US 250th anniversary fair after performers pull out

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to launch an event marking the United States' 250th anniversary on the National Mall next month after a string of musicians withdrew from the programme, organisers said on Saturday.

The concerts were planned as the opening of the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event scheduled to run from June 25 to July 10, 2026. Organisers said the fair, arranged by the Freedom 250 group, will extend across the National Mall from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument and include concert stages, state pavilions, exhibits, rides and other attractions.

According to organisers, Trump will now personally open the celebration. Freedom 250 announced the plan in a social media post, saying the president would kick off the event after several artists who had been expected to perform dropped out.

The concert lineup has faced repeated setbacks. On Friday, Bret Michaels, lead singer of the rock band Poison, became the fifth performer to pull out. He said the event was not the nonpartisan celebration he had believed it to be.

Organisers have not publicly explained the departures in detail, although the cancellations have led to questions about whether the event can proceed in the form first envisioned. Freedom 250 did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump indicated in a post on Truth Social that a concert series might no longer be needed if more performers continue to leave. He suggested he could instead address a rally on the National Mall and presented himself as a bigger attraction than the artists originally booked for the event.

In that post, Trump wrote:

"The fact is that I am, according to many, the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World"

He also said he draws larger crowds than Elvis did at his peak and does so without a guitar. Trump further said he was directing his representatives to examine the possibility of holding an AMERICA IS BACK Rally.

Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership created by the White House to coordinate events for the country's 250th anniversary in collaboration with federal agencies.