The White House is putting distance between itself and Freedom 250 amid growing controversy surrounding the organization’s planned National Mall concert series, even as President Donald Trump remains a central figure in its celebrations and the administration promotes the group as part of its efforts to celebrate the nation’s birthday.
The White House said on Monday that Trump was looking forward to the festivities but emphasized that the events were being planned independently of the administration.
“President Trump is excited to participate in various events across the country that properly honors the momentous 250th anniversary of America’s great founding,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the Washington Examiner.
But when asked whether Trump was disappointed with Freedom 250 and whether there should be changes to its leadership, a source close to the White House emphasized that the organization operates separately from the administration.
“You do realize it is a separate entity right?” they said.
The White House’s effort to draw a distinction between itself and Freedom 250 highlights a longstanding point of confusion surrounding America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
The emphasis on Freedom 250’s independence also comes after Trump spent the weekend publicly criticizing the group’s Great American State Fair concert series and urging organizers to replace it with a Make America Great Again rally after multiple artists withdrew from the lineup.
“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” Trump wrote on social media on Saturday. “Cancel it.”
The concert series is scheduled to begin June 25 on the National Mall alongside exhibits, movie screenings, flyovers, and a Ferris wheel. Several artists have already withdrawn from the event over concerns about partisanship.
In an earlier post, Trump, writing of himself in the third person, added that because artists were “getting ‘the yips’” he was “thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar.”
Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan are the only original artists who remain committed to the concert series after the departure of the likes of Bret Michaels and Martina McBride.
Freedom 250 confirmed on Saturday that the concert series would go on and that Trump would be featured in a launch event.
“As the visionary behind the Great American State Fair, we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24 in an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday,” Freedom 250 spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez told the Washington Examiner. “This has never been about performers or celebrities. The spotlight belongs to the United States of America and not to any individual artist.”
Freedom 250 grew out of a Trump task force established by executive order shortly after his return to office to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.
“The White House is engaging all levels of government, the private sector, non-profit and educational institutions, and every citizen across the country to celebrate this historic milestone,” the White House says on its website. “To achieve this ambitious vision, we have created a new public-private partnership called Freedom 250.”
Confusion has surrounded Freedom 250, particularly because it has largely supplanted America 250, the bipartisan United States Semiquincentennial Commission created by Congress in 2016, as the Trump administration’s preferred branding for the nation’s anniversary celebrations.
Freedom 250 has also received millions of dollars from funding originally allocated to America 250 and promoted administration priorities through educational materials and its “Freedom Trucks” initiative.
To underscore the confusion, last year’s U.S. Army 250th anniversary parade on June 14, which happens to be Flag Day and Trump’s birthday, was organized by America 250. Meanwhile, the Washington Monument Freedom 250 Light Show, Rededicate 250, and the Memorial Day Candlelight Tribute were organized by Freedom 250.
“America 250 for 10 years had been working on this, but wasn’t planning to do anything, especially now that Trump is president and he indicated he wanted to be involved,” a source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner. “The nation deserves a celebration.”
Spokespeople for America 250 did not respond to requests for comment by the Washington Examiner.
Aside from the concert series, 250th anniversary programming had also been upended by the abrupt plans that Trump announced in February to close the Kennedy Center for renovations. A number of foreign embassies were supposed to sponsor events honoring the nation’s birthday at the arts center.
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Forthcoming Freedom 250 calendar items include the UFC Freedom 250, also on June 14, and the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race in August.
When asked if Trump may regret politicizing 250th anniversary celebrations, Republican strategist Doug Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, quipped: “Trump won’t regret it because he’ll make it all about his favorite thing — himself.”