Donald Trump is taking over the nation’s 250th birthday party. Multiple sources inside the White House and the newly formed ‘Semiquincentennial Commission’ confirm that the former president has muscled his way into planning the 2026 celebrations, demanding what one official called ‘total control’ over the events.
The move is vintage Trump: a power grab dressed up as patriotism. The commission, originally set up by Congress to organise a bipartisan tribute to the Declaration of Independence, has been sidelined. Trump’s allies have been installed in key positions. A leaked memo, obtained by this paper, shows that all major decisions now require sign-off from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago office.
‘This is not a celebration of America,’ said a former commission member who resigned last week. ‘This is a celebration of Trump. The 250th is being turned into a four-year campaign rally.’
The timing is no accident. The 250th anniversary falls in July 2026, just months before the midterm elections. Trump sees the celebrations as a stage to cement his image as the rightful heir to the Founding Fathers. Plans already in the works include a massive fireworks display over the National Mall, a ‘parade of patriots’ featuring Trump’s favourite military hardware, and a prime-time speech from the former president himself.
But the real scandal is the money. The commission has a budget of $300 million, with much of it coming from corporate sponsors. Documents show that Trump’s team has directed those sponsors to funnel donations through a newly created nonprofit, ‘1776 Forever,’ which is run by Trump loyalists. The nonprofit’s tax records are opaque. Sources say the money is being used to fund Trump’s political operations, not the public festivities.
‘This is a classic straw man scheme,’ said a veteran campaign finance investigator who asked not to be named. ‘They set up a shell organisation, take in millions for the celebration, and then use it to pay for rallies and ads. It’s a money laundering operation wrapped in bunting.’
The White House has been conspicuously silent. President Biden’s press secretary said only that the administration is ‘monitoring the situation.’ But inside the West Wing, aides are worried. They fear that Trump’s takeover of the 250th will overshadow any official commemorations, and that the former president will use the event to spread false claims about the 2020 election.
‘He’s going to stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial and tell the country that the only way to save America is to install him as president,’ said a former Trump adviser who now works for a rival political action committee. ‘It’s a dystopian fantasy, but he’s got the muscle to pull it off.’
The commission’s original mandate called for a non-partisan celebration. That is now dead. Instead, the 250th is shaping up to be a coronation for a man who tried to overthrow the last election. The question is: will anyone stop him?
As one former Republican strategist put it: ‘The party is over. Trump is the only guest allowed.’
