Celebrity-in-chief Trump struggles to get A-list inauguration talent

Donald Trump has spent decades palling around in the celebrity world and once dreamed of a movie career. But for his presidential inauguration, he is finding little love in return.

With a few days to go before the real estate mogul becomes the 45th president of the United States on Friday, Trump has struggled like none of his predecessors to find household names as entertainment.

Jennifer Holliday, an African American Broadway veteran who said she agreed to sing in the interest of national unity, pulled out just a day after she was announced following a fan backlash.

Trump in late December claimed on Twitter that stars were begging for inauguration tickets but he also hit back, noting accurately that election rival Hillary Clinton’s overwhelming support from celebrities failed to propel her to victory.

Some of the A-list musicians and actors who supported Clinton including Katy Perry, Cher and Scarlett Johansson will be coming to Washington — not for Friday’s inauguration but for the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday, which will press the new Trump administration on civil rights.

Trump said the inauguration would still have “tremendous talent,” including military bands.

“We’re going to have a very, very elegant day,” said the former reality television show host, whose style at his New York skyscraper home is rarely described as understated.

Tom Barrack, chairman of the inaugural committee, told reporters that Trump already had “the greatest celebrity in the world” in himself and did not want a “circus-like celebration.”

“So what we’ve done instead of trying to surround him with what people consider A-listers is we are going to surround him with the soft sensuality of the place,” he said.

– B-list performers –

Trump has been a fixture in the celebrity gossip pages since the 1980s but he alienated liberal friends with his presidential campaign, in which the billionaire cast himself as a champion of working-class whites with denunciations of Mexican immigrants, Muslims and other minorities.

Trump’s team has made known that it has reached out to a number of top musicians including pop all-star Elton John, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and country legend Garth Brooks. They declined.

Meryl Streep used the Golden Globes award stage to castigate Trump over divisive rhetoric, while rapper Snoop Dogg has threatened retribution against any African American “Uncle Tom” who plays the inauguration.