The 250th anniversary of the United States, a historic event to the greater glory of Trump and the MAGA movement

The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence turns 250 this Sunday in a scenario different from the intention of the Founding Fathers; an absolute polarization demonstrated in the two opposing commemorations that are being prepared in the country: the institutional and bipartisan celebration of America 250, designed with a message of “inclusion as a fundamental theme”, which has been overshadowed by the great event designed by President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, Freedom 250, with traditionalist overtones to the point of regression, conceived to “reconstitute” the entire country as “One Nation under God.”

On Sunday, after an entire afternoon of aerial parades, Trump will appear before those attending the grand celebration at the Washington Monument at 9:45 p.m. in a speech lasting approximately one hour that will continue with the “World’s Largest Fireworks Display,” reads the program of Freedom 250, the climax of a ceremony that will represent “a fascinating journey through the American experience, paying tribute to the decisive moments that transformed thirteen colonies into the most free, strong, proud and prosperous in the history of Humanity.

The traditional symbolism of the US anniversary has acquired in Freedom 250 clearly personalistic overtones around the figure of the president. Trump has announced in the previous days a new passport with his image, a new bill with his image; presided over a mixed martial arts event, remodeled the National Mall in Washington DC and promised the installation of a large “arch of triumph” to top the landscape; a work in the approval process.

Throughout all these events, a fleet of six federally funded mobile museums have traveled across the United States offering a “Western and Judeo-Christian” version of American history, one that ignores episodes such as the violent expropriation of the lands of native populations during the “conquest of the West.” The panels and videos in the exhibition were created by the ultranationalist Prager University.

DEMOCRATS AND ORGANIZATIONS DENOUNCE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

Liberal organizations such as American Oversight, opposed to Trump, have denounced the lack of transparency that accompanies these events. While the bipartisan celebration America 250 is subject to congressional oversight and must submit an annual report on its activities, expenditures and financing, Freedom 250, on the other hand, is not subject to legislative oversight or control.

Instead, the Department of the Interior is using a non-profit organization, the National Park Foundation (NPF), to which it has allocated at least $68 million as the pillar of the financing structure for Trump’s event. America 250, by contrast, has a $100 million funding gap and has only received a quarter of the funding it had anticipated from the Trump administration, according to American Oversight.

This structure has forced the opposition of the Democratic party to speak out through its Commission for the Distribution of Natural Resources, which has denounced Freedom 250 as “an apparatus to raise and spend money in the service of the president’s ego, political ideology and personal projects.”

“In its fundraising campaign, Freedom 250 offered tiered sponsorship packages culminating in a private photo with the President, putting a price on access to the President. These requests were made under a donor structure inherited from the FPN that conceals the identity of the donors and the benefits they are promised in return,” the Democrats add.

What’s more, according to the same report, some donors who intended to contribute money to the bipartisan initiative to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary ended up being redirected “under false pretenses” to Trump’s initiative. According to the document, they received account numbers that were actually fundraising pools from the Freedom 250 initiative. The White House has not yet commented on these accusations.