Great American State Fair Loses Five Acts, Trump Declares Himself Headliner

The Great American State Fair, planned as a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, is down at least five performers from its original lineup. Morris Day and The Time, Young MC, The Commodores, Martina McBride, and Bret Michaels have all said they will no longer participate. Each cited a lack of awareness about the event’s partisan nature at the time of booking. Young MC described the situation as a “bait-and-switch.”

Donald Trump responded on Truth Social on Saturday, dismissing the departing acts as “highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.'” He proposed a replacement: himself. “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,” Trump wrote. He said he is ordering his representatives to explore holding an “AMERICA IS BACK Rally” on the same day and location in Washington, D.C. Trump added that only “Happy People, Smart People, Successful People” would be invited.

So far, only Vanilla Ice has publicly confirmed his participation in the fair. Fab Morvan, known as the face of Milli Vanilli who did not sing on the group’s records, is set to appear without any of the group’s actual vocalists. C+C Music Factory faces an internal dispute over whether to perform, and Flo Rida has not commented. The event’s rapid depopulation highlights the growing unease among legacy acts booked for events that double as partisan rallies.