#250th-anniversary
7 entries with this tag
The White House Published a 162-Page Report Accusing the Smithsonian of "Anti-White Bias" and Demanded It Post a Warning Label Saying the Museum Was "Prepared by People Who Don't Want You to Love Your Country" — Because a History Museum Told the History
On July 4, 2026 — the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding — the White House Domestic Policy Council released a 162-page report titled "Saving America's Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage." The report accuses the Smithsonian's flagship history museum of "extreme political activism," "anti-white bias," and being "ideologically captured" by "a radical, activist cohort." Its complaints: the museum discusses slavery when presenting the Founders, notes that the U.S. government "forcibly pushed Indians from their ancestral lands," acknowledges the existence of transgender people, and includes a learning-lab section defining "Whiteness" as a system of power. It objects that an 1840 statue of George Washington "refuses to affirm the exceptional courage of the American people." Most remarkably, the report recommends the museum post a label at every entrance reading: "Warning: the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don't want you to love your country." The report is the culmination of Trump's March 2025 executive order "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which put JD Vance in charge of removing "improper ideology" from the Smithsonian and threatened to halt its federal funding — more than $1 billion, about 62% of its budget — if it did not submit exhibits for review. A federal court had already ruled in June 2026 that the administration's removal of slavery, climate, and Indigenous history signage set "a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization." Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III — the historian who built the National Museum of African American History and Culture — responded that "history is driven by scholarship, not partisanship." MSNBC's coverage called the attack "shocking and galling"; an accompanying opinion piece said the White House "doesn't want history at the Smithsonian. It wants fandom" — behaving "like a real-life Tumblr page devoted to a toxic fandom." The government of the United States wrote a 162-page document demanding that a museum stop telling the truth about the country, and proposed labeling the truth as an act of hatred.
Trump Hijacked America's 250th Birthday to Enrich Allies, Sell Access, and Harvest Data — $103 Million in No-Bid Contracts Flowed to a Shadow Organization Run by His Campaign Manager, the January 6 Rally Production Company Got $38.6 Million, Donors Were Allegedly Defrauded, Artists Fled, the Stage Collapsed, the Fair Was Empty, and Newborns Got Branded Social Security Cards
A 55-page House Democrats report titled "From Vanity to Insanity" reveals how Trump hijacked America's 250th birthday celebration. Congress created a bipartisan commission called America250 in 2016 to plan the semiquincentennial. Trump tried to pack it with loyalists. When that failed, he created Freedom 250 by executive order — an LLC housed inside the National Park Foundation, whose board he stacked with his 2024 campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita and fundraising director Meredith O'Rourke. Congress appropriated $150 million for the celebration; America250 received only $25 million while Freedom 250 got at least $68 million in taxpayer funds. Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project tracked $103 million in federal contracts flowing to "a network of politicized entities under the control of Trump administration officials and political allies." Event Strategies Inc. — the production company behind Trump's January 6, 2021, Ellipse rally — received $38.6 million in no-bid contracts, with a deal extending to 2030 with an option to 2045. Donors who intended to support the bipartisan America250 were allegedly given Freedom 250's banking information instead — conduct the report says could constitute wire fraud. Corporations with regulatory business before the government — ExxonMobil, Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, United Airlines — donated undisclosed sums. $1 million donors got a photo op with the president; $2.5 million donors got speaking roles. Keith Krach appeared to solicit foreign donations at Davos. The showcase event — the Great American State Fair on the National Mall — was a disaster: most booked artists (Martina McBride, The Commodores, Bret Michaels) pulled out when they learned it was Trump-affiliated; stage panels crashed onto dancers during rehearsal; crowds were sparse despite Trump claiming 45,000; a power outage melted food; extreme heat forced closures; a fifth of states refused to participate; and organizers misspelled their own name on a billboard. Trump staged his own birthday as a national event twice under the Freedom 250 banner. PragerU and Hillsdale College got $10 million for "Freedom Trucks" mobile museums. The Social Security Administration began issuing commemorative cards with the Freedom 250 logo to every baby born in the second half of 2026 — the first time in 90 years the card's design has been politicized. A UFC fight on the White House South Lawn cost $60 million. And Trump made himself chair of the whole operation.
Trump's $14.7 Million "American Flag Blue" Paint Is Peeling Off the Reflecting Pool and Floating to the Surface — The Hydrogen Peroxide They Used May Have Caused It — Workers Are Draining Algae Water into Storm Drains — Tourists Are Grabbing Paint Chips as Souvenirs
Two weeks after the renovation was completed, the "American Flag Blue" coating applied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is peeling off the bottom and floating to the surface. CNN observed a flap of blue material partially detached and rising toward the top. ABC News found a 3x3-foot section visibly detached and floating. A research paper by Polish chemical engineers found hydrogen peroxide is an active ingredient in paint-remover formulations — meaning the H2O2 workers poured in to kill algae may have caused the paint to peel off. Workers set up tubing to siphon algae-contaminated water directly into storm drains — but the pool's NPDES discharge permit was terminated in 2023, and discharges are supposed to go to the sanitary sewer, raising potential Clean Water Act violation questions. By Friday, tourists were reaching into the pool and grabbing peeling paint chips as souvenirs — taking pieces of the $14.7 million project home with them. Getty Images published photos showing rips in the sealant. The pool is being partially drained — again. Eddie Wood, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings, was shown photos and said they don't provide enough information "to tell exactly what that is." In April, Trump said he would clean up the pool "within a week" for "about $1 million." Three months and $16+ million later: the pool is green, the paint is peeling, workers are draining algae water into storm drains, tourists are collecting the debris, and the two miles of broken pipes remain unfixed.
A Second No-Bid Reflecting Pool Contract Went to a Trump Donor and Mar-a-Lago Neighbor Who Admitted to Bribing a Congressman
The New York Times reports that Greenwater Services, an Ohio firm, received a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install the "ozone nanobubbler" filtration system in the Reflecting Pool. The company is owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, led by John J. Cafaro — a Trump donor, Mar-a-Lago neighbor, and a man Trump has called "a fantastic man." Cafaro admitted to providing an "unlawful gratuity" (a bribe) to former Rep. James Traficant and to committing perjury in federal court; he received probation while Traficant got eight years. The company listed Cafaro's Palm Beach mansion as its Florida address and his investment trust's phone number in Ohio lobbying records. The White House says Trump "was not involved" in selecting Greenwater. This is the second no-bid Reflecting Pool contract given to a Trump-connected firm — the first, $13.1 million to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, went to a company whose prior pool work was at Trump's golf club. Combined cost: nearly $15 million. The pool is green. The two miles of faulty pipes that cause the algae problem remain unfixed.
Trump Spent $13.1 Million Painting the Reflecting Pool "American Flag Blue" — It Turned Green with Algae in One Day. Workers Are Now Dumping Hydrogen Peroxide into It
Trump personally ordered the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool painted "American Flag Blue" ahead of America's 250th birthday. He drove across it during construction, bragged it would be "the great color," and posted a photo of the "very complex, but powerful, Dark Blue surface" with "CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER." One day after refilling, it turned green with algae. Workers scooped clumps with nets. By Friday it was green again. The administration is now dumping gallon bottles of hydrogen peroxide into it and deploying a $1.7 million "ozone nanobubbler." One worker told CNN cleaning it could take "an entire lifetime." A pool specialist warned the darker blue paint absorbs more sunlight, raises water temperature, and accelerates algae growth — "it's a foregone conclusion." The $13.1 million no-bid contract went to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a company whose only prior pool work was at the Trump National Golf Club, at a 20% profit margin (double the federal norm). They failed to seal the concrete twice. The pool is fed by the Tidal Basin — essentially Potomac swamp water. Social media users noted the pool was now "Iranian flag green." Sen. Blumenthal: "American taxpayers ought to feel absolutely cheated."
Trump's "Pool Guy" Reflecting Pool Contract Hits $13.1M — 7x What He Promised — and Now Faces a Lawsuit
Trump promised the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool would cost $1.8M to fix. The no-bid contract to his "pool guy" (a culvert waterproofer with no pool experience) started at $6.9M. The Interior Dept. then added $6.2M more — total now $13.1M, over seven times Trump's promise. A preservation nonprofit is suing to halt the blue paint job for violating historic landmark protections.
Trump Puts His Face on U.S. Passports — First Living President to Do So
The State Department announced "commemorative" passports for America's 250th birthday featuring Trump's image and gold signature — making him the first living president ever featured inside the document. 25,000–30,000 copies starting before July 4. No prior president — not Washington, Lincoln, FDR, or Reagan — put their own face on a passport while in office.