The US President Donald Trump has called for the cancellation of upcoming concerts celebrating America's 250th anniversary after several musical acts backed out, saying they should be replaced by a political rally headlined by himself.
"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," Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding: "Cancel it."
Shortly after they were announced as performers in a Washington concert series around the 4 July holiday, multiple musical acts backed out, with some citing the event's politicisation.
The concerts were scheduled to kick off on 25 June as part of a major event on the National Mall organized by Freedom 250, a Trump-backed public-private entity.
"I understand Artists are getting 'the yips'" about performing, Mr Trump said earlier on Truth Social, one day after a fourth and fifth act announced their departure, out of a total of nine artists originally announced.
"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 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.'"
Mr Trump said he was ordering aides to assess "the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally" on the mall, where he would deliver a speech "rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!"
On Friday, artists including country singer Martina McBride and glam rocker Bret Michaels, frontman of 1980s band Poison, said they were dropping out of the concert series.
"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," Mr Michaels posted on Facebook.
Mr Trump has openly tried to stamp his mark on the celebrations, most notably by staging a mixed martial arts fight in a specially constructed arena on the White House lawn on 14 June - his 80th birthday.
The remaining line-up of musicians, such as Vanilla Ice and C+C Music Factory, has sparked a flood of sarcastic comments on social media.
