Trump hijacked US's 250 anniversary to serve 'political ideology and pet projects', congressional report says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 2 Jul 2026 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Thu 2 Jul 2026 06.01 EDT


Donald Trump staged a hostile takeover of the US’s 250th anniversary celebration to enrich political allies, harvest voter data and promote Christian nationalist ideology, according to a congressional investigation released on Thursday. The interim report, “From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday”, outlines a web of alleged corruption, wire fraud and pay-to-play schemes orchestrated through a shadow corporation embedded within the National Park Foundation (NPF).

The document was produced by Democratic staff of the House of Representatives’ natural resources committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee. It has not been officially adopted by the committee. “Under President Donald Trump, this anniversary has been hijacked and perverted into a hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment,” it states, contending that the machinery built for a national commemoration was converted “into an apparatus for raising and spending money in service of the President’s ego, political ideology, and pet projects.”

In 2016 Congress established the US semiquincentennial commission, operating as the nonprofit America250 Foundation, to plan the nation’s 2026 celebrations on a nonpartisan basis. However, under Trump, the White House launched a sustained pressure campaign to subsume the commission. When America250 leadership resisted its demands to shift focus toward partisan, campaign-style spectacles, the Trump administration created Freedom 250 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the congressionally chartered NPF.

The interim report finds that, by taking control of the NPF board and installing key campaign operatives such as Meredith O’Rourke and Chris LaCivita, the White House secured an opaque vehicle that enjoyed the NPF’s nonpartisan credibility and tax-exempt status while operating outside standard government transparency laws.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/02/trump-hijacked-250-anniversary

---

Link to REPORT (PDF) - https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/download/freedom250-oversight-report?download=1

[FakeNoose]

1. He has ruined it for all of us

[Ray Bruns]

2. "Donald Trump staged a hostile takeover of the US's 250th anniversary celebration to enrich political allies,

harvest voter data and promote Christian nationalist ideology”

[BlueKota]

3. It's just sad that he has gotten away with it,

from a legal standpoint, but at least very few people came to his fair.

[SergeStorms]

15. With a compliant Congress.....

and Extreme Court, it was a fait accompli.

This is what the voters get (with enormous help from the Heritage Foundation, not to mention all the "Tech Bros" ) for enabling the far-right to completely control all three branches of government.

Fascism kicked the door down. It's now entrenched, and I'm not certain we can get it back, even if voters revolt.

[Bettie]

4. I was coming up on 10 years old in 1976

and I remember happy celebrations.....on TV in towns, everywhere, people were proud of our country, even with the problems we had (and let's face it, every nation has problems), but the overall feeling was optimistic and looking forward.

Now....we're in the Dark Ages and there is little light to be seen. We've handed our country to criminals, literal criminals.

And we may never see the light again.

People wonder why younger people don't want to have kids. Look around, the reason isn't hidden.

[Bengus81]

7. I was almost 23, it was an election year for Pres. Some unknown person

named Carter was moving up in the polls to return this Country to some kind of normal after the Nixon years. And so it went.

[young_at_heart]

10. I made a granny square quiilt to celebrate

I used royal blue, red and white yarn and had the number "1776" in the middle and underneath it the number "1976", bordered by the three colors. I remember feeling very proud at the time and my family would show it to other family and visitors. It felt special. Now, all I feel is a very sad ache in my heart! I have 0 desire to make or "do" anything!

[Bettie]

13. I have to march with our county Democratic party float in the parade in our little town

on the 4th.

I hate parades to begin with, but this year, it feels like everyone is celebrating the death of our country.

I was proud back then, even with problems, the US was a pretty good place.

Now? With the people who are in charge right now? It's not a good place and the people who support him are not good people.

[purr-rat beauty]

5. Um....the locust has hijacked EVERYTHING

And the locust said "Will you be eating that?"

And I said "what?"

And the locust said "the emptiness you hold in your hand"

He will consume everything....he is consuming everything.

[marmar]

6. Today's "water is wet" report.

[NCDem47]

8. Trump is so dumb, vain and greedy

This could have been one of the easiest assists for any president to leverage and build goodwill.

With Trump? Nope.

[Dulcinea]

9. When this miserable, fetid pile of orange fecal matter finally leaves public office...

...NOT ONE THING with his name or image on it should be left standing. No arch. No ballroom. No nothing.

I don't wish death on him. I wish for him to live to see his name reviled and despised by EVERYONE, like Hitler, Mussolini, or Pol Pot.

[jmowreader]

12. There are plenty of septic tanks and landfills to name after him

[sakabatou]

11. Well duh

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. Everything Trump touches turns to shit

[Initech]

16. Of course he did. And he can go get fucked for that.

[Katcat]

17. Trump is NOT

A Christian, in any shape or form!

[Karasu]

18. No. Shit.

[NBachers]

19. I'm another who was in his 20's during the run-up to '76, and I know everyone was up for it and in on it- no matter what

our politics or heritage was.