Two groups — one with the imprimatur of Congress, the other with President Donald Trump’s blessing — are jockeying to host celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary, sparking confusion, muddled messages and new scrutiny from Democrats who ask why the Trump-aligned group is receiving federal money.
America250, led by a bipartisan board created by Congress a decade ago to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, has overseen events such as the Army’s 250th anniversary last year. It has also issued grants to state commissions and sponsored initiatives such as a float in this year’s Rose Parade.
Freedom 250, a public-private partnership launched by the White House in December, has emerged as the more publicized and prolific group, with a flurry of high-profile announcements, including some from the Oval Office.
“Freedom Trucks,” six customized semitrucks backed by $10 million in federal funds and with educational content crafted by conservative educators, have begun crisscrossing red states. A “Freedom Plane” took flight from Washington this week, beginning a nationwide tour in which the Boeing 737 will ferry the Declaration of Independence and other historic documents. The group is also planning a national prayer event on the National Mall, an IndyCar race around D.C., and a UFC fight hosted outside the White House on Trump’s birthday. The organization is led by Keith Krach, who served in the first Trump administration.
Both groups are drawing on private funds for their programming, with sponsors such as Exiger, Oracle and Palantir contributing to both organizations. The groups are also set to share in $150 million appropriated by Congress last year and managed by the Interior Department.
The rapid rise of Freedom 250, with its Trump-tailored programming, has unnerved some liberals and watchdog organizations, who question whether it is wrongly tapping into funds intended for nationwide anniversary celebrations and promising access to the president at a price. Twelve Senate Democrats on Tuesday pressed the Interior Department to provide a “clear accounting” of money routed to Freedom 250, in a letter sent to the Trump administration and shared with The Washington Post.
“The Trump administration’s latest venture, Freedom 250, continues to raise serious and troubling questions about whether access to the president or official government events is for sale to the highest bidders,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), who led the letter, said in a statement to The Post. “And if the administration is commingling taxpayer dollars with other funds in an unaccountable private entity run by the president’s allies, it is an open invitation for corruption. We need answers.”
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, also has called for congressional investigations, citing a recent New York Times report that donors to Freedom 250 were offered access to Trump if they gave $1 million or more.
Freedom 250 spokeswoman Rachel Reisner referred questions about its federal funding to the Interior Department. Trump “is deeply grateful for the support of his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can’t be bought,” she said in a statement.
She added that the organization has reached out to all 50 governors and partnered with a range of organizations, including PragerU and MyAmerica2026.
“As we approach this historic milestone in our nation’s founding, we will not be deterred by any partisan outrage or political theater,” Reisner said.
The Trump administration also has touted its approach, and Trump has repeatedly celebrated that he will be the president to oversee the nation’s 250th anniversary — an idea he embraced on the campaign trail.
Asked about its plans to distribute the $150 million provided by Congress and what share would go toward Freedom 250, the Interior Department declined to comment.
“The Department of the Interior looks forward to celebrating Freedom 250 and saluting 250 years of American greatness alongside President Donald J. Trump — the most iconic and accomplished President in the history of our great nation,” the department said in a statement.
America250 and Freedom 250 have publicly touted their shared commitment to the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Rosie Rios, the Democrat leading America 250, has repeatedly praised her counterparts in interviews and statements, saying that Freedom 250 will focus on Washington-area events while her group tackles nationwide programming.
The bipartisan commission “has taken every possible step” to support the Trump administration’s activities, the group said in its report to Congress in January.
But the tensions between the organizations have grown, according to five people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Freedom 250 officials have bristled at the pace of America250’s work and output, and argued that the bipartisan group has been overly bureaucratic and politically correct. They also argue that America250 — which has received more than $100 million in federal funding since 2019 — has little to show for those contributions.
America 250 said in a statement that it continues to actively collaborate with the White House task force, Freedom 250 and the full executive branch to plan the celebrations.
In comparison, one person familiar with the matter said, Freedom 250 drew on $3 million in federal funds last year to quickly produce a New Year’s Eve light display on the Washington Monument.
America250 officials and allies, meanwhile, have questioned whether the Trump-backed group is too focused on activities that please the president and say the group threatens to siphon money that could be used for nationwide activities. America250 has received $25 million of the $150 million apportioned by Congress last year for anniversary activities, according to a person familiar with its finances.
The friction between the groups reached a breaking point in the planning for the Army’s 250th birthday last summer — a military parade in Washington that coincided with Trump’s birthday, said one person familiar with the plans. America250 wanted the celebration to focus on the military, not the president. Freedom 250 wanted Trump, as the commander in chief, to be front and center, the person said.
Some programming has shifted between the two groups. America250 originally applied for and received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the Freedom Trucks, mobile museums inspired by the American Freedom Train that crisscrossed the country from 1975-1976. The institute is a federal agency that provides financial support for museums and libraries. The $10 million grant was later voluntarily transferred to Freedom 250, according to an official of the agency.
“These mobile museums, which tell the incredible story of our nation’s founding, will be a cherished memory for an entire generation,” Keith Sonderling, a Trump appointee who leads the museum and library agency, said in a statement.
Marissa Streit, chief executive of PragerU, a conservative media organization, said her company volunteered to produce all video and educational content for the Freedom Trucks after White House officials came up with the vision and worked with Hillsdale College to develop the displays.
Streit insisted that despite the uniformly conservative credentials of the people involved, the exhibits showed a balanced view of history.
“I believe we need to teach and talk about both the negative things that have happened in our country as well as the positive,” she said.
The tensions are a departure from the approach taken during the bicentennial under President Gerald Ford, who sought to make sure the celebrations did not raise questions of impropriety in the wake of the Watergate scandal, said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.
“The one thing our taxpayer funds should not be used for is politicizing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country,” said Painter, co-author of “The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability.” “One of the things [the founders] were most afraid of is faction and political parties destroying our democracy. The celebrations here shouldn’t be owned by one political party or another.”
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