I don’t have a lot of memories of the nation’s bicentennial; I spent that summer in northern Europe. But I do know that President Nixon was accused of putting on a “buycentennial” because of the corporate money spent on the celebration.
President Trump is once again making Nixon look like a choir boy.
One of the first executive orders Trump signed in 2025, Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday, promised a “grand celebration” and set up a White House task force to make that happen.
The task force does not include a representative from the bipartisan United States Semiquincentennial Commission, created by Congress in 2016 to “provide for the observance and commemoration of the 250th founding of the United States.” Instead, all members represent the executive branch.
That, by itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. But it is bad when the National Park Service (NPS) says on its website that the task force event, Freedom 250, is the “official national commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary.” Because it’s not. The official Congressional event is America250, established by the bipartisan Semiquincentennial Commission.
Freedom 250 is an LLC set up by the National Park Foundation (NPF), the official nonprofit partner of the NPS, in December to manage fundraising and branding for the White House task force. The NPS is directly represented on Trump’s task force via the Secretary of the Interior. And Freedom 250, LLC, is overseen by that same White House, partisan task force.
Got a headache yet? It gets more complicated.
Freedom 250 was in the news this week because of a series of planned concerts at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall June 25 – July 10. Musical guests rushed to renege after they learned that the event was a partisan one closely tied to the president.
And the president’s response? Replace the concerts with a political rally “instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain.” Earlier he had claimed to be more popular than Elvis Presley while pitching himself as the keynote speaker for the fair.
Why did most musicians run away from Freedom 250? It’s a moneymaking scheme that grants donors access to the president. Donate $1,000,000 (or more), for example, and get, in return, an invitation to a private reception hosted by the president. All donors and donations are hidden from public view under the LLC umbrella.
Let’s return to the organizations for a moment. Congress allocated $150 million to America250; it has received $25 million. Somehow, $10 million was siphoned off for a Freedom 250 fleet of six “Freedom Trucks” (double-wide 18-wheelers) modified into mobile museums. Where is the remaining $115 million?
The museums are not without controversy. This Administration has a documented history of removing exhibits from national parks. For example, in January, NPS removed an outdoor exhibit from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The topic? President Washington’s ownership of slaves. With the moving museums, the challenge isn’t simply whitewashing and pablum. It’s putting words in the mouths of founders using AI.
That $10 million was a present to conservative PragerU (not a real university) and Hillsdale College, a Michigan-based Christian liberal arts college. So it’s no surprise that “America is depicted as a white Christian nation.” As The Guardian continues, one placard states: “The truth that each person is made in the image and likeness of God is the basis of human equality.”
I’d like to remind you of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which makes it clear that the federal government can neither be hostile to religion nor can it promote one religion over others. Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership run through the White House. As such, it is subject to the Constitution, in this non-lawyer’s opinion.
Then there are fake AI quotes that PragerU created for the Founders Museum, a partnership with the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. Dennis Prager, 77, has John Adams say: “Facts do not care about your feelings.” Adams did not say this. Contemporary conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, a PragerU presenter, is the owner of that phrase.
You won’t find out much about the Freedom Trucks or the Great American State Fair on the Freedom250.org website. The site doesn’t link out to PragerU, for example, which has a much easier to read list of dates and locations than Freedom 250.
And the website provides no details about the states and organizations it claims are participating in the Great American State Fair. Axios was able to get some details about Arizona and Florida; John Deere and Northrop Grumman will also be there, they say. Contrast that with America250, which has a comprehensive calendar of events by date or state and links out to each state’s website.
Then there’s the Freedom 250 UFC fight on the south lawn of the White House slated for June 14, Trump’s birthday. The $80 million event is being fully sponsored by TKO Holdings Group, which owns UFC. Politics has leaked through, reportedly. Sean Strickland, the reigning middleweight champion, says he’s been banned from the event for being critical of Trump.
In case you’re wondering what a mixed martial arts event put on by the UFC has to do with Independence Day … you won’t find an answer at Freedom250.org. If you frame it as spectacle, though, it’s on brand. After all, Trump himself admitted it is “a gimmick.”
Speaking of Freedom250.org, that website was developed by the National Design Studio (NDS), a three-year temporary agency created by an August 2025 executive order and run through the White House. That quasi-independent LLC looks very connected to the White House, doesn’t it?
The website includes events that do not appear to be affiliated with Freedom 250. For example, it lists the opening of the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library as a Freedom 250 event. There is no mention of Freedom 250 or its logo on the library website. Freedom 250 also gets the date wrong and doesn’t link out to the library.
The website also claims the 4th of July celebration at Mount Rushmore. There is nothing about Freedom 250 on the NPS website promoting the event. Freedom 250 says there is only one day of events; there are three. (No link out to the event, as expected.) The NPS page acknowledges its partnership with the State of South Dakota, however. Mount Rushmore has 4th of July events every year.
Somehow, the International Naval Review & Sail4th 250 at the Port of New York and New Jersey is affiliated with both America250 and Freedom 250 but is certainly not unique to either. Sail4th got its start under President Kennedy. It held July 4th celebrations during the 1976 Bicentennial, the 1986 Statue of Liberty centennial, the 1992 Columbus Quincentennial, the Millennium celebration of 2000 and the 2012 Bicentennial of The Star-Spangled Banner.
Freedom 250 is also co-opting the annual Independence Day fireworks display on the National Mall.
So there’s questionable content on the NDS-designed website. There is more razzmatazz that has an enigmatic connection to the Declaration of Independence. First up, an INDYCAR race, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Next, the group announced plans for a Patriot Games National Competition (page is 404 not found) for high school athletes this fall; it has drawn comparisons to the Hunger Games.
Let’s look at the website designer bona fides. The temporary head of NDS is Joe Gebbia, the DOGE alumnus and cofounder of Airbnb. As you know, DOGE is the subject of numerous federal lawsuits related to their controversial access to Social Security data. Given DOGE’s documented record on data access, his appointment warrants close scrutiny.
At least one security analyst has critiqued apparent data privacy issues associated with NDS built sites. It’s noteworthy that Congress established a web design system that resides in the General Services Administration. Yet the White House developed its own.
The more you investigate semiquincentennial events sponsored by the White House, the more you see it as a tangled and disjointed mess. The White House has sucked oxygen (and financing) away from the Congressionally created America250. It promotes opaque donations to curry favor with Trump. Most events have little if any connection to 250 years of American democracy.
If there is one thread, it’s all about Trump. His is the last video in the Freedom Truck museums. And a placard alongside reads: “My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future, because the golden age of America has only just begun.”
With him at the helm, of course.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com