The Fourth of July marking 250 years of American independence is, by design, a nonpartisan civic occasion—a celebration of the country, not of whoever happens to hold office. Trump has decided it should be about him. The morning after his UFC birthday spectacle on the White House lawn, he announced that the federal government’s marquee semiquincentennial event on the National Mall would double as a campaign-style rally in his own honor.
CNN reports:
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.
“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,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. …
His announcement was notable as events marking 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. 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. He has also loomed large over celebrations of America’s semiquincentennial. After several artists pulled out of a concert series for the “Great American State Fair,” for instance, Trump made himself the host of an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
The rally is of a piece with how Trump has commandeered the entire anniversary. Congress chartered a nonpartisan commission, America250, back in 2016 and appropriated $150 million for the commemoration. But after Trump created his own White House-controlled operation, Freedom 250, the Interior Department steered $100 million to the president's outfit and just $50 million to the congressional commission—which has so far received only $25 million. Watchdog groups have sued, calling it an unlawful diversion of taxpayer money from the body Congress actually designated. A quarter-millennium of American self-government, in other words, is being repackaged as a backdrop for one man’s pyrotechnics and applause—and paid for, in part, with funds meant to keep the celebration everyone's rather than his.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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