One by one, music stars have canceled Trump’s big 250th anniversary celebrations. Country singer Alexis Wilkins takes the opposite approach. She is best known for her love for FBI chief Kash Patel.
June 30, 2026, 8:15 p.mJune 30, 2026, 8:15 p.m
Remo Hess, Brussels / ch media
It only worked on the second attempt: Alexis Wilkins sings the national anthem at the US party in Brussels. (June 28, 2026)Image: keystone
US Ambassador Bill White would have preferred superstar Katy Perry. But the pop singer (“I kissed a girl”) – and recent girlfriend of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – had to politely decline the invitation. Unfortunately, she was unable to appear at the pompous 250th anniversary celebration of the US Embassy in Brussels due to “contractual obligations,” she said. So Trump’s man had to look for a replacement in Brussels.
“Who cares?” said White on Sunday evening to the more than 8,000 invited guests in the Jubilee Park in the middle of Brussels’ European Quarter. Karma wanted it that way, the former New York businessman joked about Perry’s cancellation.
But Karma didn’t really mean well with the replacement either. Just as country singer Alexis Wilkins began the actual highlight of the evening, the American national anthem, suddenly nothing was heard from her anymore. Microphone glitch.
Wilkins sang and sang, her lips moved, but she couldn’t be heard. “Maybe this is the karaoke version,” was joked by those present.
U.S. Ambassador White later had to bring her back on stage to repeat the singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Without this being done, he will not continue, said the Trump friend.
FBI special unit as party escort
This isn’t the first time that Wilkins has botched her performance. Just last week she sang the American national anthem in Washington at the opening of the “Great American State Fair” – the patriotic show with which the USA began the countdown to its 250th birthday. The internet then made fun of the wrong tone. And about the fact that she of all people came to this performance.
This is actually remarkable. So far, the 27-year-old’s musical career has been manageable. On the streaming platform Spotify she only manages around 7,000 listeners per month.
Her most famous number is therefore less a song than her love life: Wilkins has been in a relationship with Kash Patel, the controversial FBI chief and loyal Trump man, since 2023. Since then, the relationship has regularly made headlines in the USA.
18 year age difference: FBI chief Kash Patel and Alexis Wilkins.Image: keystone
Patel is said to have assigned a fully equipped FBI special unit to guard his girlfriend, who lives in Nashville, around the clock. Be it shopping or attending their concerts – the FBI officers are always there. The agents’ job apparently also includes driving a drunk acquaintance of Wilkins home. When they refused, Patel freaked out, US media write.
Meanwhile, Wilkins himself has become the object of the right-wing parallel world from which Patel, 18 years his senior, comes politically. A right-wing podcaster and former FBI agent claimed that she was actually an agent of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad. The Israelis targeted the FBI chief in order to lure him into a “honey trap” and manipulate him. Wilkins sued for $5 million in defamation. But she couldn’t completely stop the chatter on social media.
Trump wants to step in himself if necessary
One thing is clear: the new level of fame hasn’t hurt her career. On the contrary.
However, there was also a bit of luck involved. Wilkins made her big appearance around Trump’s USA anniversary at a moment when other artists were running away. Bret Michaels, frontman of the 1980s glam rock band Poison, is just the latest in a series. A number of musicians in front of him dropped out after the supposedly non-political celebration began to smell more and more like a Trump show.
Trump reacted hurtfully to the cancellations. He let it be known that anyone who backed out now would only be “third class” anyway. And he announced that he would pull the cart out of the mud himself – if necessary, by appearing himself.
And of course Alexis Wilkins. Incidentally, she vigorously rejects the accusation that she benefits from political proximity and her boyfriend’s career. She has been a musician for years and one should not pretend that her performances have fallen from heaven. Incidentally, she was not paid for her work in Washington. (schweiztoday.ch)