r/moderatepolitics 3d ago

News Article Trump considers dropping Freedom 250 concerts in D.C. after artists pull out

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-considers-dropping-concerts-us-capital-after-artists-drop-out-2026-05-30/

Today, President Trump tweeted that he is considering cancelled a series of concerts planned to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. This comes as many of the artists publicly advertised to perform have withdrawn from the event, with some citing that they initially agreed thinking the event would be non-partisan. Instead, he is touting himself as a much bigger draw and is instead proposing he gives a speech at an America is Back Rally. It’s unclear if they will attempt to find other performers to keep live entertainment as a part of the planned celebrations.

What do you think of the artist’s decisions to withdraw - should they be willing to overlook President Trump’s participation in order to celebrate this milestone for America, or is it fair to pull out? Do you think President Trump is a bigger draw than other live entertainment, and is he capable of uniting the nation for America‘s 250th birthday? Do you think other entertainers will agree to perform?

295 Upvotes

157 comments sorted by

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u/-Nurfhurder- 3d ago

I mean, it's not exactly unreasonable to assume Trump will turn the 250th Birthday of the United States into the Donald Trump Celebration Spectacular is it. This is the guy who put his own name on the Kennedy memorial building.

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u/CreativeCucumber17 2d ago

He also wants to put his face on a $250 bill

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u/Altruistic-Brief2220 2d ago

I think that’s gone further than “he wants to” - aren’t they being printed?

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u/dabocx 2d ago

Not yet, they would need to pass a bill to allow a living person to be on legal currency.

Even if they don’t I fully expect them to sell the bills as a collectors item or merch.

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u/veterinarian23 2d ago

No, just his trump's 250 year anniversary gold coins, they've been already minted. As well as his new trump passports, also with his face on it (available in D.C.)

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u/neuronexmachina 3d ago

This is the guy who put his own name on the Kennedy memorial building.

I'm just glad he didn't rename "Memorial Day" to "Trump Memorial Day." 

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u/AlertWeb7693 2d ago

Please don't give them any ideas

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u/Teganfff Centrist Democrat 2d ago

Hush. We still have two years left.

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u/robotical712 2d ago

At least we're not yet at the stage in the downfall of the Republic that he renames a month after himself.

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u/veterinarian23 2d ago

I guess printing his face on new $250 bills is bad enough...

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u/Solarwinds-123 2d ago

That's probably not going to happen

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u/Living-Dimension7798 1d ago

We’re waiting on Trump Veteran’a day for Jan 6th

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u/Jugaimo 2d ago

More like any artist of worth that participates at a Trump event is committing professional suicide. Trump’s gonna be gone in 3 years and then these people will go down with him.

And for what? To likely get skiffed by the Trump admin?

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u/AgravaineNYR 3d ago

Some of these plans were being made and lined up in 2023 and 2024. I remember hearing info about it before the 2024 eclipse. 

If the project has changed tone I don't fault them for stepping back. That will have consequences that they need to live with all the same. I know i hope to get tickets next time Martina McBride travels through my area though. I've always liked her music and my familiarity with it does not leave me surprised at her actions.

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u/Partytime79 3d ago

From what I’ve read there’s 2 competing orgs. America250 was the original planning nonprofit authorized by Congress but has been largely defunded through executive fiat and the funds shifted to Freedom250 which is a nonprofit largely controlled by Trump and various loyalists.

With all that said, I don’t particularly care about a concert in DC and who does or doesn’t perform. It’s probably a safe bet that the Trump group will turn their event into a political rally so if the musicians wanted to stay away from that, it would be understandable.

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u/ihavespoonerism 2d ago

America250 changed to Freedom250

I’m going out a bit on a limb here but this feels like a nice little microcosm of the current GOP playbook: if you aren’t their specific brand of patriotic, you are not patriotic enough.

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u/foxinHI 2d ago

This, despite the fact that their authoritarianism and disdain for the constitution and the rule of law is the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen in US politics.

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u/SnarkMasterRay 2d ago

It's a microcosm of modern US politics and not just the GOP. Democrats have fights over which candidate is left enough and DINO is also a thing.

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u/ThatPeskyPangolin 2d ago

That is a separate issue that you can find with both parties. What that poster was referring to has been a very real thing for decades, where Republicans believe they are the only true patriots and the only real Americans. It has been pretty basic rhetoric for them for most of my lifetime.

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u/KentuckyFriedChingon Militant Centrist 2d ago

Look buddy I'm typically first in line to play devil's advocate, but come on. I am absolutely exhausted at the level of whattaboutism people are willing to engage in to paint literally everything as a "both sides" issue despite the fact that Republicans and Democrats are oceans apart on how "badly" they behave on (almost) any given topic.

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u/SnarkMasterRay 1d ago

Democrats can't offer anything at this point other than "we're not Trump." Things aren't going to get any better if we don't hold their feet to the fire either. I believe it is in fact more imperative we do so because they have a greater chance of coming out of their current corrupt status. "Republicans are worse" just gives them a free pass to continue their current grift and NOT DO ANYTHING about it.

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u/Iceraptor17 2d ago

I mean he's been linking himself to America 250 constantly, using it as an excuse to plaster his face everywhere on "America 250" special edition products and govt assets

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-3

u/texasdeck 2d ago

It's baffling to me that these musicians agreed to do it in the first place, then clutch their pearls when they find out it could turn out to be partisan. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

It wouldn't surprise me if the reason those artists dropped out was actually because they received a massive amount of backlash from their own fans.

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u/Teganfff Centrist Democrat 2d ago

From what I’ve gathered, the event organizers deliberately mislead the artists’ agents regarding what the event actually was.

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u/Reddit_Loves_Misinfo 2d ago

The point of the comment above is that it is extremely hard to believe that all these artists actually fell for a lie as obvious as "Trump's big event will be nonpartisan."

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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago edited 2d ago

The point of their defense is that it wasn't presented as "Trump's big event," which is plausible because his staff is probably aware that stating it would make it clear that it's partisan.

Backtracking due to criticism makes sense too, though.

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u/Reddit_Loves_Misinfo 2d ago

The "defense" doesn't address the comment it was given in reply to.

When somebody says "It's hard to believe that they fell for an obvious lie", it doesn't add anything to the conversation, let alone amount to a defense, to say "from my understanding, they were lied to." The person talking about the deception already knows that it exists.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago

extremely hard to believe that all these artists actually fell for a lie as obvious as "Trump's big event will be nonpartisan."

You're assuming they knew that Trump was behind it. Pointing out that this is unsubstantiated is a valid defense.

It is very hard to believe that they'd think he would have a nonpartisan event, but it's not hard to believe that the organizers who invited them didn't mention his involvement.

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u/Reddit_Loves_Misinfo 2d ago

I was explaining the earlier comment to somebody who misunderstood it.

But I do agree with that original comment. Trump makes everything about himself. Unless the artists (and their managers) were told that Trump, somehow, wouldn't even be in DC for the duration of the event, it's pretty easy to predict that any claims of this event being Trump-agnostic wouldn't match the reality. Even if it had been planned by people who genuinely had no intention of involving Trump, it's not like they would be able to stop him from turning it into a Trumpfest.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago

There's another event called America250 that isn't being run by Trump, so it being in the DC doesn't automatically mean he's planning it.

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u/Noartisan 2d ago

Apparently artists/agents thought it was an "America 250" even. Not a "Freedom 250" event. 1 is a non partisan organisation.. The other is newly created by Trump. Personally, I think you'd have to be an absolute idiot not to realise it was going to be partisan. 🤷

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u/HopeThisIsUnique 2d ago

I mean look at who the lineup was, it's not like they were giving up a stadium tour. Reality is they probably could have used the money, but at this point it just wasn't worth it.

This is no shade on the artists, just none of them are particularly popular at the moment.

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u/HeathrJarrod 2d ago

It is NOT America’s birthday

That’s not until 2039

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u/dragonmp93 2d ago

Eh, almost every country started counting since they declared their independence, not when they actually got it, which is always at least several years later after the declaration.

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u/PornoPaul 2d ago

Where are you getting that number?

If youre going based off of when Congress ratified the treaty they made with England, itd be 2034.

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u/ionizing_chicanery 2d ago

The only thing I can think of is that it'd be the 250th anniversary of the office of the president and the first congress.

I guess the argument would be that that is when our current government officially came into effect. But of course America existed as a sovereign nation before then.

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u/HeathrJarrod 2d ago

The articles of confederation was 1776-1789 And the us was more a loose confederation of different states. different from Modern USA.

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u/Seachica 3d ago

Considering that Trump ignored the already established America 250 committee to form his own Freedom 250 planning org, these concerts were made political by him. So yes, the artists should drop out if they don’t want to be associated with Trump’s politics.

Celebrating the 250th year of the country should not be political. But Trump made it that way so here we are.

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u/bschmidt25 2d ago

100%. I wasn't around for it (barely) but I've heard the Bicentennial in 1976 was a pretty big deal and people appreciated it. Trump making this a self-glorification event / political rally (as usual) is a disgrace.

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u/Seachica 2d ago

I was a kid during the bicentennial. It was a big deal, lots of fun, and non political. It makes me sad that we aren’t all celebrating this year. I did my part though — have some America 250 merch, and will be proudly waving the American flag on July 4. But I’m not going anywhere near any Freedom 250 stuff.

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u/ciammarino 2d ago

Me too. For 50 years, I’ve been excited to see what all of you saw in 1976. I thought America’s 250th would be everywhere—that the excitement would spill into every corner of the culture all year long. Honestly, in our capitalistic dystopia, I figured every product under the sun would be stamped with a commemorative “250 Years of America” logo.

Instead, it feels a little like my country turned 250 and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

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u/Soggy-Brother1762 2d ago

Just for fun one time I watched the debate between Ford and Carter and, wow, politics was a whole different show back then. 

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u/Excellent-Piglet8217 2d ago

I was born in 91, so obviously I wasn't around for the country's Bicentennial. However, I grew up in Ohio and participated in the state's Bicentennial. It was a huge deal and very much bipartisan. It felt like everyone was excited to celebrate Ohio for once. I remember thinking about our nation's 250th, knowing that I'd likely live to see it, and what a HUGE celebration it would be. Ohio's Bicentennial celebration felt so monumental at the time.

And now...gestures at everything

My family is full MAGA and will absolutely do or believe ANYTHING that Trump says. I'm exhausted and I hate this timeline lol

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u/ciammarino 2d ago

Agreed. As a bicentennial baby, this one hurts a little. Being born in 1976 always felt special—we grew up hearing “Ooh, you’re a bicentennial baby,” and believing it somehow mattered. I’ve been looking forward to this celebration my whole life. There was something fun and oddly unifying about the idea that we’d all get to celebrate America’s 250th together. Like after carrying that label around for 50 years, a tiny part of the party belonged to us too. But now it just feels estranged.

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u/sfgf27 2d ago edited 2d ago

‘76 is a cool birthday year. Try and ignore the political stuff since the current situation is temporary as the pendulum of power swings back and forth.

Enjoy the 250th nonpartisan celebrations with your family, friends & in your community you’ve been looking forward to, and also on TV as there will be plenty.

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u/Ok_Tomato_8236 2d ago

Yeah that’s the problem/cycle, the pendulum of power keeps swing back and forth to the worst people on both sides. Be nice to stop the pendulum and elect someone in the middle.

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u/Professional-Lab6751 2d ago

‘Worst people on both sides’ implying there is any comparison between sides here. There is not.

There is a cultural and political pendulum in literally every democratic political system.

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u/Ok_Tomato_8236 2d ago

I not comparing anyone, just saying they all suck. They all lie, censor, distract, misinform, and funnel our taxes to the wealthy while kicking the can of real change down the road. Except Massie, he’s the man.

There’s actually not a “political pendulum” in every democratic system. Some countries even set their systems up to avoid big winner takes all swings.

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u/Professional-Lab6751 2d ago

Weird how this only goes one way doesn’t it? Weird how this is only trying to equate the Democrats and Republicans and handwave away all the massive differences in amounts of corruption, misinformation, ideology and adherence to democracy when it’s quite clear the Republicans are far, far worse in almost every measure. There is quite literally no comparison.

One side is very clearly much worse than the other. Who got the BBB with the wealthy tax cuts passed? Was that Republicans or Democrats? When have the Democrats done anything even close to that? The answer is never.

It’s okay, you can admit that the Republicans are uniquely bad and have been working against the interests of the US for close to 50 years now.

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u/Ok_Tomato_8236 2d ago

Again I’m not comparing anyone. I can admit republicans suck a fucking lot. Can you admit that democrats do everything I said in my previous comment just like the republicans do? Which is why I don’t identify with either. Based on the way you’re trying to come at me though, I’d bet you think the democrats can do no wrong and aren’t open to any contrary information.

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u/Professional-Lab6751 2d ago

I am an independent.

I can admit that democrats have made mistakes, but as an analogy it’s like saying ‘look at these two criminals, aren’t they both awful’ when one of them has shoplifted and the other has murdered someone. Yes, they both have committed a crime, but one is quite clearly worse and it isn’t even close.

This ‘both sides’ rhetoric is always used as a tool to denigrate Democrats as it serves Republican interest to foster apathy and act like everyone is just as bad as each other because they know they are much much worse.

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u/Iceraptor17 2d ago

It's depressing. really its just all become one big trump rally. Anything America 250 the feds are making sure to tightly link to trump and his image.

Which is unfortunate. Many places in the country will still do a phenomenal job with it, so it won't be all doom and gloom. But i expect nothing out of the trump admin but a big "Trump is great" session.

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u/Wino_Panda 3d ago

Most Presidents: i don't have time for this nonsense. Didn't we appoint a committee 10 years ago to make this happen?

Trump: Cancel the Iran meetings. I have bigger fish to fry. Get Young MC on the phone.

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u/RogerBauman 3d ago edited 3d ago

I think it was fair for the artists to pull out. There was obviously some intentional misdirection going on with naming this event freedom 250 as opposed to the America 250 program that has been being worked on by Congress for the last 10 years.

I saw how Martina McBride described the way that she was presented the offer as an American State Fair and was unaware of the fact that this was a trump production rather than something being organized by Congress.

Personally, I Don't care whether he cancels the event or not. This whole thing has been about his ego and I don't blame people for wanting to step away from it.

Edit: just read the tweet. It sounds as though he is pretty butt hurt if he is threatening to show up himself while comparing himself to Elvis. Turning it from a celebration of our semiquincentennial into a rally seems very on brand for him and I wouldn't be surprised if that was his plan all along.

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u/NativeMasshole Maximum Malarkey 3d ago

I'll honestly be happy if things aren't 10× worse by the time Independence Day rolls around.

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138

u/gayfrogs4alexjones 3d ago

Anything Trump is involved in will turn political so it’s no surprise artists are dropping out. He can’t even give a speech to the Boy Scouts without mentioning the stolen 2020 election or how great his administration has been.

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u/Any_Confusion_7077 3d ago

I don’t think President Trump is blameless in this, but as someone who loves America it does make me sad that these celebrations won’t be what they could be. I do wish that people, including these and other potential performers, could put politics aside for America.

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u/-Nurfhurder- 3d ago

could put politics aside for America

I would imagine most of these people are pretty capable of putting politics aside for something like this, it seems to me the concern is the Administration wouldn't be able to do so, in so far as they would be likely turned into props for Trumps 'look at me' celebration.

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u/Financial-Desk-669 2d ago edited 2d ago

"people, including these and other potential performers, could put politics aside for America"

Respectfully,  they weren't the ones who made it political. trump made the whole godamn thing about himself.

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u/chloedeeeee77 3d ago edited 2d ago

Why is the President always treated like a delicate toddler whose actions are seen as regrettable but understandable and inevitable, while everyone else is expected to overlook that, lest they be considered immature and petty for not wanting to tacitly and implicitly condone it? 

It’s honestly one of the most bizarre features of the Trump presidencies to me. He can act how he wants, but other people are the deranged bad guys for saying “no thanks, not for me”. 

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u/Reddit_Loves_Misinfo 2d ago edited 2d ago

for America

Refusing to celebrate or promote an openly corrupt and anti-constitutional authoritarian is doing something for America. Democracy is more important than a party.

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u/MoonStache 3d ago

I don’t think President Trump is blameless in this

I mean, it's pretty much entirely his fault. No need to fence sit about this. If ever there was a divisive figure in politics it's him. No self respecting musician would associate with him at this point. We don't need pomp and circumstance to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country, especially not as a thin veil for what's clearly really a birthday celebration for Trump.

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u/Solarwinds-123 2d ago

No, there absolutely should be pomp and circumstance to celebrate the 250th. And it has nothing to do with Trump's birthday, which isn't even in the same month.

u/Dorchadas617 1h ago

There should be, but it’s hard to set that aside when the president just makes it all about himself rather than the country. The man is trying to put himself on $250 bills (which is against the law, since he’s still alive), has minted 250th gold coins with his face on them, and made it clear that the concert was going to be all about him.

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u/classicliberty 3d ago

The artists themselves have stated that was their intent, yet when they began actually participating in the preparations it was clear they were making it political.

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u/Plastastic Social Democrat 3d ago

Trump made his bed, now he gets to lie on it.

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u/HavingNuclear 3d ago

I think these people wish they could put politics aside but they were being forced into something the president turned political.

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u/likeitis121 3d ago

It starts at the top.

It's the right thing to pull out, and not be used as a prop to normalize and celebrate the Trump administration.

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u/Iceraptor17 2d ago

How can you put politics aside for an event that is being made political by the organizers?

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4

u/albertnormandy 1d ago

Can’t do that when Trump so blatantly politicizes it to the point that participating in it at all is a de facto endorsement of Trump. 

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u/lesbiannumbertwo 2d ago

they agreed to the event under the assumption it would be apolitical, and then trump turned the whole thing into a self glorification party and they pulled out. trump made it political. not wanting to perform at an ego stroking event for a man that is actively trying to tear down everything america stands for seems pretty damn patriotic to me.

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u/TailgateLegend 3d ago

I don’t blame people for dropping out. I personally get tired of hearing Trump talk all about himself and his agenda, bashing his opponents, which provokes them to lash back at him, etc.

The America 250 celebration should not be centered around him like this administration is trying to do. Yes, he’s the president during it, but it’s about celebrating the entire country’s history and greatness, not just himself. His ego is going to ruin what should be a massive celebration this summer.

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u/TakeAShowerHippie 3d ago

Should it be a massive celebration? Things are not the worst they have ever been but we are spiraling pretty fast.

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u/kakashissecondmask 2d ago

Well we definitely shouldn’t just accept that things are bad. We have a lot to be proud of as a country. It’s really hard to take that in right now thanks to this administration.

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u/Solarwinds-123 2d ago

Yes there should be a big celebration. That should happen no matter who is in the White House.

u/Dorchadas617 1h ago

It’s not about who is in the White House, it’s about the person who’s currently sitting in the president’s chair turning what should be a celebration of America into a victory lap about himself. Plenty of people, performers who pulled out included, are upset by that.

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u/Agitated_Pudding7259 Federal worker fired without due process 2d ago

What do you think of the artist’s decisions to withdraw - should they be willing to overlook President Trump’s participation in order to celebrate this milestone for America, or is it fair to pull out? 

I don't blame them, his approval rating is around 35%. He's popular with no one but republican primary voters. The reputational risk for artists is obvious. The base will love the rally, but these performers do not want to alienate fans, be turned into campaign props, or be associated with an event they were led to believe was nonpartisan. 

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u/HogGunner1983 2d ago

Because Trump can't help but make everything about him.

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u/MehAboutLA 3d ago

I remember there was a series of tweets Trump released where he gave all these grand promises on things he would do as president. There was one about celebrating 250 with states competing in an Olympics like competition throughout the entire year. Guess that got downgraded to this? And now it's getting scrapped? Another log for the pile. 

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u/The_DanceCommander 3d ago

Remember he wanted to do a hunger games style thing where each state would send their two top high school athletes or something and they’d compete in whatever.

It’s when I realized that everything has to be a competition to Trump. You can just celebrate something, there always has to be a winner and loser no matter the occasion. Makes a lot of sense why he wanted MMA fights and F1 races.

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u/ChromeFlesh 2d ago

I mean it could be fun to see the top high school athletes from every state compete, could be fun for the kids too, but yeah I dont see trump doing that in a fun way

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u/TheUnderCrab Politically Homeless 2d ago

His entire political strategy is “throw shit at the wall and see what sticks long enough for the base to lap up” and then he just runs with whatever nonsense his base has jumped onto. It’s wild. His political career is defined by the tail that wags the dog. 

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u/ManbadFerrara 3d ago

What do you think of the artist’s decisions to pull out - should they be willing to overlook President Trump’s participation in order to celebrate this milestone for America, or is it fair to pull out?

IIRC, half the artists to pull out weren't even approached to appear at this thing to begin with; the other half were basically like "whoa, no one explained the actual nature of this event to me, nevermind then."

Do you think President Trump is a bigger draw than other live entertainment,

As in Vanilla Ice and the guy from Poison? On the whole, yeah...

and is he capable of uniting the nation for America‘s 250th birthday?

Ah...no.

Do you think other entertainers will agree to perform?

Sure, why not? There are other at least realatively known pro-MAGA acts out there.They're definitely not nearly as high up the relevancy scale as Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, but at least moreso than Young MC and the guy from Milli Vanilli who didn't take his own life (who I had NO idea was still around till this came about). Tbh, my first thoughts seeing this were "that's the best they could book?"

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u/Any_Confusion_7077 3d ago

President Trump has had more celebrity endorsements in his second term than he did in his first. I don’t understand why none of them are stepping up.

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u/CloudApprehensive322 2d ago

Which notable celebrities who aren't D/F tier endorsed Trump for a second term? His biggest supporters are has beens who haven't been culturally relevant for decades.

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u/MyNewRedditAct_ 3d ago

Because his 2nd term has been a disaster and they don't want to be associated with him?

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u/TuxTool 2d ago

Why would any non-MAGA artist or celebrity want to be associated with Trump and this twisted version of what should have been a celebration.

This event has been turned into a "celebration" of him and his ego. I know of school trips that will be going to DC during all of this and no one has or wants to make plans to be part of any of this.

Just fast forward to just having Lee Greenwood and Kid Rock being the only ones on the setlist.

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u/Iceraptor17 2d ago

Because the point of this was to get a wider spread of artists to use them as a "see look at how widespread the support is" instead of rolling out the same guys and gals over and over again. Which is why the organizers presented it as non partisan

Like at some point even the biggest supporter would go "kid rock, again?"

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u/RobotBearArms 3d ago

That man isn't about uniting anyone unless it's to grift them. He is trying to pillage this country. People have fewer rights, protections, and freedoms now than they used to... I don't think that is worth celebrating

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u/bettercaust 2d ago

I think it would be funny if these artists put together a nonpartisan 250th concert series themselves, kind of like Live Aid, as an "alternative" to the president's 250th celebration in the way that TPUSA has an "alternative" Super Bowl halftime show.

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u/oath2order Maximum Malarkey 2d ago

I like that. Can we call it the Shadow Semiquincentennial, maybe get that terminology going here?

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u/chloedeeeee77 2d ago

Someone isn’t handling the cancellations well over on www.truthsocial.com, and is proposing taking his ball and going home, because he never really wanted to play anyway:

“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. 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! 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”

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u/sharp11flat13 2d ago

I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that anyone would read this, or any one of hundreds (thousands?) like it and think “this guy should be president”. I don’t think I will ever really understand.

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u/Scion41790 2d ago

Is he saying that Amy not having the same last name as her husband is somehow "obfuscation"?

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u/chloedeeeee77 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yes. In a previous Truth Social post on Saturday, he attacked her and claimed “Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress, who doesn’t use the “Cooper” name because they, as a couple, don’t want people to know that she has a Conflict of Interest with an important Judge…”

Their marriage announcement from 1999 (well before he became a judge) stated that “The bride, 34, is known as Amy and is keeping her surname”. Unless Amy has a crystal ball, her decision to not change her last name 27 years ago seems rather unrelated to any “obfuscation” our dear President is imagining.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/style/weddings-amy-jeffress-casey-cooper.html

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u/FabioFresh93 South Park Democrat 2d ago

America’s 250th birthday should be a celebration but it’s starting to feel like the celebration is going to be drowned out by polarization, lack of national pride, scandals, etc. I try to separate the people of America from its government and politics but events like this, which should be a nonpartisan celebration, make it difficult. On the 4th of July I’ll eat my burgers and hot dogs and reflect on what America used to be and could be and how I feel like we have fallen so far.

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u/TheUnderCrab Politically Homeless 2d ago

 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!

The POTUS everyone. I think it’s well past time this man had the 25th amendment used on him and he was removed from office.

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u/Halicet 1d ago

He's just reeling from the ego hit of having a bunch of has been artists who were popular 40 years ago, back out after discovering they had been engaged by an organization associated to him, rather than the official America250 organization created by Congress. 

 I mean seriously...  This is supposed to be a celebration of the United States being a nation for a quarter of a millennium, and not only could he not secure current mainstream acts, he couldn't even retain 20-40 year old acts who are past their prime.   (This isn't a besmirchment of those acts, as several are quite good, but that does not change the fact that they are not current or widely appealing to modern audiences)...  And now is his futility, he wants to cancel his failure, and throw a demagogic rally to celebrate himself, rather than the nation the event is supposed to commemorate.

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u/Euthyphraud 1d ago

How can Trump drop a concert that has already dropped him?

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u/notwhoyouthinkmaybe 2d ago

Oh no! Guys where else will I see vanilla ice, other than outside the Texaco asking me for $5 to repair his tire that ran out of gas.

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u/Longjumping_Cat2069 2d ago

Can this administration do anything without it being a spectacular mess? It's actually breathtaking

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u/shacksrus 3d ago

But will be keep the carnival rides?

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u/regalfronde 2d ago

So now the PR spin battle begins.

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u/JerseyJedi 2d ago

There should be a privately-operated concert featuring the performers but without input from the President. 

America’s 250th birthday absolutely should be celebrated, but we all know that the President will try to turn the Freedom 250 ones into being about him specifically. 

America is bigger than any one person, and we shouldn’t allow one egomaniac to hijack our national birthday. 🇺🇸 

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u/KhloeKendall 2d ago

Anyone who thought this wouldn't be partisan is too privileged to pay attention, because Trump has made it clear it is the ME ME ME hour with any and everything he does.

Is Kid Rock or Ted Nugent not available? I assumed they'd be foaming at the mouth at a chance to do this, especially Kid Rock after that embarrassing halftime show.

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u/oath2order Maximum Malarkey 2d ago

Seeing that Kid Rock is not part of this was very surprising.

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u/oojacoboo 2d ago

I’m sure Kid Rock will play ba-wit-a-ba

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u/dpezpoopsies 2d ago

I couldn't find in the article, how many artists were originally booked? It says 5 have backed out

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u/ConnectBodybuilder95 1d ago

9 separate artists and concerts.

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1

u/throwawaytheist 22h ago

Man, think of how awesome these concerts could have been with a competent president...

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u/baby-blue06 20h ago

They celebrated the spirit of 76 in 1976. So it's about 50 years since then. I remember how excited everyone was to celebrate 1976.

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u/PornoPaul 2d ago

I may have missed it, but was it made public what made them say its partisan? Don't get me wrong, Im not doubting it, but I am curious as to what led all these artists to say basically the same thing.

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u/CaptainSasquatch 2d ago

America 250 is the official nonpartisan series of events celebrating the 250th anniversary that has been in the works for several years. This concert series was part of Freedom 250 which is a separate organization run entirely by Trump affiliated people that has been highly partisan. For example the UFC event on the White House lawn celebrating Trump's 80th birthday is part of Freedom 250.

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u/PornoPaul 2d ago

Thanks! I should have edited my comment, after reading through mkre comments I finally understood the issue.

One celebrates America, the other celebrates Trump.

I appreciate it.

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u/CaptainSasquatch 2d ago

It's a reasonable thing to be confused by. I can see why many of the artists didn't fully understand what they were signing up for.

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u/HeathrJarrod 2d ago

We should just admit America doesn’t turn 250 until September 2039

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u/Solarwinds-123 2d ago

That's...just not true.

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u/HeathrJarrod 1d ago

America in its modern form didn’t exist until 1787/1789

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/HeathrJarrod 1d ago

It was still 3 branches of government , House/Senate. Before constitution, it wasn’t

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u/Solarwinds-123 1d ago

But America existed as an independent entity, as a nation as of 1776. The fact that we changed the way we govern afterwards doesn't alter that.

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u/HeathrJarrod 20h ago

Before the constitution, it was a loose confederation of states, similar to the EU.

Changing the way we fundamentally govern, does indeed alter our identity as a nation

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u/Solarwinds-123 19h ago

Do you rant about this every 4th of July?

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