# Obama’s star-studded concert: The 250th party many want instead of Trump’s > Source: > Published: 2026-06-17 20:02:33+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...In a very divided nation, where the majority of Americans [have expressed “a bleak” view of its future,](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-america-250-riven-doubt-pessimism-glimmers-hope-rcna348912) former President Barack Obama is planning a globally streamed party Thursday that many people see as a more exciting and unifying way to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday, as opposed to events hosted by the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 organization. The Obama Foundation [announced this week](https://www.obama.org/visit/grand-opening/) that a lineup of A-list musicians, global icons and Hall of Famers, including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, U2’s Bono and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, will headline a concert for the grand opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday. Of course, the grand opening of [the presidential museum ](https://obama.org/visit/)on Chicago’s South Side is not part of any official 250th anniversary events — which are being organized on the national level by Trump’s Freedom 250, as well as by the Congressionally-appointed, non-partisan America 250 commission. But people on social media clearly see the Obama center’s grand opening as a way to get into the spirit of the semiquincentennial, culminating in the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. “The real America 250 concert!” one person said on the Obama Foundation’s [announcement of the concert](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZqOuKmRf0S/). “THIS is how you celebrate 250 years of democracy,” said another person. The opening ceremony on Thursday morning (starting at 9 a.m. PST) kicks off a weekend-long series of art, music, sporting and outdoor events at the center’s 19-acre campus. “Chicago is gonna be so electric this weekend,” someone said on the popular [celebrity Fauxmoi sub-Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1u7ppfc/the_performers_for_the_obama_presidential_center/). “The Obama library opening, ons of Juneteenth celebrations. Pride. Everyone is gonna be outside.” The Obama Foundation’s announcement about its star-packed concert came just two days after Trump failed to attract A-listers for the Freedom 250 UFC fight he staged on the White House lawn Sunday night,[ the Daily Beast reported. ](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-humiliated-by-a-list-line-up-for-obama-center-opening/) UFC CEO Dana White told Time magazine he had invited a number of A-listers to come to the fight, which also was designed to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday, the Daily Beast reported. But those celebrities — including Tom Brady, Adam Sandler, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Statham, Guy Ritchie, Jared Leto and Mario Lopez — did not show. Meanwhile, the notable figures at Trump’s birthday were limited to his family, his controversial cabinet members, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his former TV actor wife Cheryl Hines, and CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, who has been trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, according to the Daily Beast. The biggest-named entertainer to attend was Nate Bargatze, the supposedly apolitical comedian [who is facing fierce backlash](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/15/nate-bargatze-trump-ufc-chery-hines/) from fans for being at Trump’s birthday party. “Obama pulling a better lineup for the opening of his library than POTUS can for America’s 250th birthday is such a damning example of the cancer currently desecrating the Oval Office,” another person said on Reddit. Additional controversy erupted at Trump’s cage fight spectacle after heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit, stoked about winning his match, hurled[ a vile insult at former first lady Michelle Obama,](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/15/ivanka-kai-trump-michelle-obama/) who once lived in the White House with her husband and children. Prior to Sunday night, Trump spent the past month facing pushback — and celebrity walk-outs — over his various grand plans for America’s 250th anniversary. Democrats have accused Trump and his MAGA supporters in the Freedom 250 organization of essentially staging a hostile takeover, during what should be a time of national unity, [the New York Times reported.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/us/politics/freedom-250-america-250.html) While Congress established the America 250 commission in 2016 to plan large-scale events for the 250th anniversary, “internal fighting” and dysfunction prevented it from getting much done, leaving “a void,” the New York Times reported. Trump, who had been thinking about this milestone anniversary since his first term, “moved to establish more control,” the New York Times also said. He bypassed America 250 and created Freedom 250 instead, which was able to “receive the lion’s share of the $150 million Congress dedicated last year to anniversary events.” But this “takeover” by Freedom 250 has faced criticism, even as the organization insists that it, like America 250, is nonpartisan,[ as Axios reported. ](https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2026/06/01/alternate-events-protests-america-250) “Freedom 250 is a vanity project that this president has put forth because he has an insatiable ego,” Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat who has been on the America 250 commission since 2019, said to the New York Times. Last month, a number of artists also pulled out of Freedom 250’s planned Great American State Fair kick-off concert, scheduled for June 24 on the National Mall, because the supposedly nonpartisan music event had become politicized and closely associated with Trump, [Rolling Stone reported. ](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bret-michaels-drops-out-trump-freedom-250-concert-1235569821/) Poison frontman Bret Michaels said he had been told that the concert would be “a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life,” Rolling Stone reported. Michaels said he dropped out after after it “evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” Other musicians who also pulled out of the concert included Martina McBride, Morris Day, Young MC, the Commodores and Milli Vanilli. But even though Trump was reportedly “stung” by the artists’ withdrawal, the formerly reality TV star insisted that the show would go on, the New York Times said. On Truth Social, he declared that he would be “the Number One Attraction” at the June 24 rally — “the Greatest Rally, EVER!” — which would kick off the two-week Great American State Fair. [Time reported.](https://time.com/article/2026/06/15/trump-rally-america-250-anniversary-celebrations/) Trump’s rally is expected to feature music by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps military bands and country singer Lee Greenwood, performing his song, “God Bless The USA.” As for July 4, Trump announced on Monday that he would host another massive rally at the Lincoln Memorial, complete with military flyovers and what he said would be “the largest fireworks show in history.” Trump said[ on Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116753672230328052) that the event would be a rally for himself — “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.” For those looking to the Obama center grand opening ceremony to provide a relief from the perceived pro-Trump partisanship of the Freedom 250 events, they are likely to find it. Some the performers, such as John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera and Marc Anthony, are longtime Democrats who have participated in past campaign events with Barack Obama or supported other Democratic candidates, the Daily Beast reported. Some of these celebrities, notably Springsteen, also have been vocal critics of Trump during his second term in office. Of course, the Obama center can hardly say its opening ceremony will be free of politics but it still insists that the event, with its musical lineup of Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe winners, will be uplifting, entertaining and unifying. In a statement, Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said the grand opening will be “unlike any other,” the Daily Beast reported. “The Grand Opening Ceremony will reflect a spirit of inspiration and joy, with a big boost from the performers who are sharing their talent with us, she said. “We hope to inspire people everywhere to believe in their power to bring change home.”