"Third Rate Artists": Trump Turned on the Festival He Agreed to Headline Just Hours After Offering to Step In

Donald Trump reversed course on the troubled Freedom 250 festival twice in a matter of hours — first offering to headline the event himself after performers withdrew, then calling for the whole thing to be scrapped in favor of a MAGA rally.

The controversy centers on the Great American State Fair — a component of the Freedom 250 festival planned for Washington D.C.'s National Mall — which has seen a wave of performer withdrawals in recent days.

According to the Irish Star, as artists continued to withdraw, Trump floated the idea of stepping in as the main attraction. In a lengthy Truth Social post, the president joked that he could easily fill the void left by departing performers.

"I understand Artists are getting 'the yips' having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate 'Artists,' and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!"

But in a stunning twist just hours later, Trump appeared to abandon the idea altogether and instead demanded the event be scrapped.

In a second Truth Social post hours later, Trump criticized the remaining lineup and called for the event to be replaced by a MAGA rally. "We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain."

Trump then tied the festival controversy to his ongoing feud over the Kennedy Center after a federal judge ruled his name had been improperly added to the venue and blocked plans for major renovations.

Responding to the ruling in the same post, Trump wrote, "Cancel it, just like I canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge, said that I should not be allowed to spend my time and money in order to MAKE THE CENTER GREAT AGAIN, actually, far greater than it ever was before!"

"It would have also been nice to see a Republican/Democrat union bring it back to life. The Kennedy Center is broken, unsafe, and $busted, and has been for many years!" He added, "Judge Cooper also stated that the highly prestigious Board of the Center was not authorized to add on the name 'TRUMP' despite the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars of my time and money will be necessary for its successful reincarnation. So now, the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially.

"Judge Cooper and his wife, Amy Jeffress (obfuscation anyone?), should be ashamed of themselves. Judge Cooper, like numerous other Crooked Judges on my cases, should be IMPEACHED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

The problems began when organizers announced a lineup featuring Martina McBride, Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice, Young MC, the Commodores and Bret Michaels — artists who subsequently began withdrawing one by one. It left the organizers scrambling and the event facing an uncertain future.

As of writing, the Freedom 250 festival's status remained unclear — Trump had not confirmed whether his MAGA rally proposal would replace or supplement the original event, and the organizers had not publicly addressed the lineup withdrawals.