Who Gets the Stage
President Donald Trump said Monday that America’s 250th anniversary celebration on the National Mall next month will include a "TRUMP RALLY" on Independence Day. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, "On July 4th, at The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, in beautiful and safe Washington D.C., we are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ‘TRIBUTE TO AMERICA,’" and added, "Starting at 7 P.M. EST, this HUGE Celebration will honor our Country’s People, Spirit, Strength, Resolve, and Triumphs." The event is being framed from the top down as a patriotic spectacle, with the president placing himself at the center of a public celebration that is supposed to belong to everyone.
Trump said the July Fourth rally will include performances from military bands, orchestras and ceremonial units, which he said will perform "patriotic melodies" and favorite hits from his "playlist." He also said, "We will have none of those people that put you to sleep and constantly complain!" The backdrop, he said, would be the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool, which he recently renovated. The Interior Department is still cleaning "residual algae" from the Reflecting Pool.
What They Call Celebration
The main July Fourth event on the National Mall, called the "Salute to America," is meant to feature a parade, military demonstrations and other activities, and it ends with a fireworks display over the monuments, according to the National Park Service. The machinery of state pageantry is doing what it always does: turning public space into a stage for flags, uniforms and spectacle, while ordinary people are expected to watch and clap on cue.
CNN said the announcement was notable because events marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence are typically meant to be nonpartisan and focused on the country writ large rather than representing one political party or president. CNN also said Trump has previously drawn criticism for using his office to advance his own personal interests or making himself the star of what would otherwise be apolitical celebrations, and that he has loomed large over celebrations of America’s semiquincentennial.
The Power Behind the Pageant
CNN reported that after several artists pulled out of a concert series for the "Great American State Fair," Trump made himself the host of an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday. CNN also reported that on his 80th birthday Sunday, Trump hosted a UFC fight night at the White House, an event that was also ostensibly meant to mark America’s 250th, and that his family promoted a venture aimed at profiting off the spectacle by selling gold coins priced as high as $12,000.
CNN said the president’s latest announcement came as several states had declined to participate in the "Great American State Fair" on the National Mall, and that officials said their states’ decisions were largely due to costs, while a spokesperson in one Democratic-led state pointed to concerns about the partisan nature of the event. The costs land, as usual, on the people and institutions expected to bankroll the show, while the benefits concentrate around the office and family of the man at the center of it.
CNN said Freedom 250, a White House public-private partnership launched to create Trump-driven alternatives to the events planned by the nonpartisan America250, is organizing the state fair and other 250th anniversary events. The language of partnership does a lot of work here: public branding, private interests, and presidential control all folded together into one managed spectacle.
The Washington Post said Trump would be closely involved in a marquee celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, casting the July Fourth event on the National Mall as one of his political rallies. The Washington Post also said the previously planned event for the country’s anniversary would feature the president’s playlist and his keynote address. The result is a national commemoration shaped less by collective memory than by the preferences, branding and political needs of one officeholder.