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Vanilla Ice Will Perform at Trump's 'Freedom 250,' Citing Music As Apolitical

Amid artist pullouts from Donald Trump’s “Freedom 250” festival, Vanilla Ice confirms he'll still perform, stating music transcends politics. He even declared he'd perform for Putin or in Iran.

Variety Music·May 30, 2026·via Variety Music

Vanilla Ice Will Perform at Trump's 'Freedom 250,' Citing Music As Apolitical

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May 30, 2026 6:00am PT

Vanilla Ice Defends Plans to Perform at Trump White House’s ‘Freedom 250’: ‘I’ll Go Play for Putin and I’ll Play in Iran if You Want’

'It's just music. What's the big deal, man? We're just entertainers,' rapper says, after multiple artists dropped out of the festival lineup

By Todd Spangler

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Todd Spangler

NY Digital Editor

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Multiple artists have dropped out of the Donald Trump-backed “ Freedom 250 ” festival this summer. But Vanilla Ice is sticking to his guns and plans to keep his gig at the D.C. event.

According to Vanilla Ice, “music is not political” — and he said he would perform for Russian president Vladimir Putin if given the chance.

“I don’t even vote, so I don’t even care,” the rapper in an interview with TMZ posted Friday. Vanilla Ice said that if former President Joe Biden called up asked him to perform, “I’d go play. It’s not a big thing. You play for your fans. You know, we don’t get a chance to pick our fans. They pick us. And I’ll go play for Putin and I’ll play in Iran if you want. It don’t matter.”