House Democrats accuse Trump of hijacking America’s 250th anniversary

House Natural Resources Committee Democrats on Wednesday released a 55-page interim report accusing Donald Trump of turning the nation’s 250th birthday into a vehicle for his political ideology, personal business interests and religious agenda. The White House tried to seize control of the congressionally created, bipartisan semiquincentennial effort, then built Freedom 250 after America250 would not yield. Donors were diverted, access to the president was sold, and the celebration was steered toward a whitewashed Christian nationalist version of history.

Congress created the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to keep the commemoration national rather than partisan. The commission includes 16 private citizens, 4 Representatives, 4 Senators and 12 ex officio members, and the Congressional America250 Caucus reached 350 members on Dec. 18, 2025.

Some donors who thought they were giving to America250 were routed to Freedom 250 instead, with bank and routing information used in a way that blurred the line between the official nonprofit and the Trump-backed structure. Freedom 250 operated under the National Park Foundation umbrella, a setup that exploited a longtime public charity’s credibility while sidestepping the transparency and accountability rules Congress intended. Freedom 250 denied that donors had been misled and criticized the timing of the report. Public Citizen put the Trump administration’s already-awarded federal contracts and grants tied to anniversary celebrations at nearly $103 million, with more than 80% of $126 million in grants going to politicized projects linked to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Chris LaCivita and Meredith O’Rourke.

Its Great American State Fair will run June 25 to July 10 on the National Mall, Trump will headline a Mount Rushmore event on July 3 in South Dakota, and a July 4 fireworks show over Washington will use more than 850,000 pyrotechnic effects and last about 35 minutes. A July 1 to July 5 Washington Monument illumination and six traveling Freedom Trucks are planned in 2026, while the National Mall is already facing overlapping use from the FIFA World Cup Fan Zone, scheduled for June 11 to July 19.