Two truths? US 250th anniversary programmes take differing approaches

One group is organising field trips to historic sites for schoolchildren, was an official partner of the Artemis 2 lunar mission and is promoting a national volunteering effort. The other is behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship bout planned at the White House, rolled out a fleet of “Freedom Trucks” presenting an artificial intelligence-inflected view of US history and is pushing a focus on faith and prayer. One submits regular reports of its activities and spending to congress; the other is soliciting private donations with promises of personal access to the US president.

With just two months to go until the US celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, the country’s cultural calendar is being shaped by two different non-profits vying for the same pot of federal funds and public attention: America250, an independent, non-partisan commission established by congress in 2016 to oversee the semiquincentennial, and Freedom 250, a new organisation announced by President Donald Trump last December. While congress appropriated $150m to the Department of the Interior last summer for the anniversary, it is now believed that most of that funding will be redirected to Freedom 250, which revealed a World’s Fair-like programme on its newly launched 250.gov website last month, for projects aligned with the president’s views and interests.

“This corrupt, dishonest White House is trying to use America’s 250th milestone as a stage to promote an alternate reality,” the California congressman Jared Huffman said during a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee in February, in which Democratic members railed against Freedom 250’s lack of transparency and the way federal funding was being used to present a whitewashed version of American history. “Trump seems to think the truth doesn’t matter, that Americans just want to be entertained, even if it’s gaslighting.”

In March, 12 Democratic senators, led by Adam Schiff of California, sent a letter to Doug Burgum, the secretary of the interior, seeking answers about Freedom 250’s funding, and whether taxpayer dollars were being mixed with private money, potentially from foreign sources jockeying for influence with the president. “The American people deserve a clear accounting of why and on what basis the Department of Interior decided to direct funds to a private entity that is unaccountable to the American people,” the senators wrote.

These concerns have been echoed by watchdog groups, such as the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which has filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover details about Freedom 250’s funding and governance, and whether federal employees at the Department of the Interior and National Park Service are being redirected to support the organisation. So far, its efforts have been met with silence from the government, and it is considering taking legal action.

“It’s difficult to suss out how Freedom 250 is actually working, how those events are selected and why they’re selected,” says Tim Whitehouse, the executive director of PEER, “but obviously, this is to promote the president’s vision of US history.”.

Ignoring darker chapters

That vision ignores the darker chapters at the country’s foundations, such as slavery and the murder and forced relocation of Indigenous people. The Institute of Museum and Library Services originally awarded America250 a $10m grant to fund six Freedom Truck mobile exhibitions last year, but this was redirected to Freedom 250 in December, which took over the project. The displays tell “the harrowing story of how 13 colonies declared independence, defeated the greatest empire in the world, and secured American sovereignty 250 years ago”, according to the initiative’s website, and are organised by PragerU and Hillsdale College, right-wing institutions that have partnered with the White House before on questionable historical presentations. Another touring project, “History Rocks!”, spearheaded by the secretary of education Linda McMahon, has been met with protests and cancellations due to its ties to conservative and evangelical groups, including Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty and the Heritage Foundation.

Freedom 250 is also supporting a tour of documents related to the founding of the US, drawn mainly from the National Archives. The collection includes a rare engraving of the Declaration of Independence, made by William Stone in 1823 and commissioned by the then secretary of state John Quincy Adams, and a ledger recording the votes made by 13 state delegates to the Constitutional Convention approving the Constitution in 1787. The documents are travelling aboard a Boeing 737 dubbed the “Freedom Plane”, and will next stop in Texas, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Washington state.

On 17 May, Freedom 250 is hosting “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving” on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and encouraging Americans to join in “giving thanks and praise to God for 250 years of His Providence for the United States, in praying that God Bless and Protect America for the next 250 years, and in solemnly rededicating our country as One Nation under God”. The image being used to promote the initiative is a 1975 painting of George Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge by Arnold Friberg, who is best known for his illustrations for the Book of Mormon and his work as an artist and designer on Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film, The Ten Commandments (1956).

Trump has also suggested that Freedom 250 will be involved in the fundraising for a proposed 250ft-tall Triumphal Arch—no budget for it has been announced, although the National Endowment for the Humanities has earmarked $15m for it—to be built on Memorial Circle, on the main road leading from Arlington National Cemetery into the capital. That project was presented to the Commission of Fine Arts on 16 April and introduced by Burgum. The commission members, made up entirely of Trump appointees, approved the concept but made a few suggestions about the arch’s design, including omitting the gilded statuary of eagles and a winged figure of Victory from the top as well as a small pride of golden lions on plinths surrounding the arch. This would reduce its height to 166ft—two feet taller than Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. And while Trump has claimed construction on the arch would begin this summer, the project faces significant hurdles, including the 1986 Commemorative Works Act, which sets out a meticulous process for any new memorials in the capital, including requiring congressional authorisation, which often takes years.

Focus on students

In a statement posted on its website, America250 meanwhile said that it “welcomes Freedom 250 and its initiatives that will give the American people more ways they can celebrate America’s 250th birthday”. It has been forging ahead with its own initiatives, including America’s Field Trip, for which 125 students will get a behind-the-scenes tour of a historical or cultural site this summer.

America250 is also leading a time-capsule project, to be buried in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and opened 250 years from now. The organisation is working with the Library of Congress to select materials that “are durable, stable and not dependent on technologies that may not exist in the future, ensuring the contents remain intact and accessible when the capsule is opened in 2276”, says Rosie Rios, the chair of America250. Among the items that will be included are student art and writing from its field-trip initiative, and “objects tied to major national moments”, like the Rose Parade in Pasadena. “America’s Time Capsule is designed to capture a snapshot of the nation at 250, reflecting our values, creativity and defining moments,” Rios says. (Congress coincidentally plans to bury another time capsule, designed by the Architect of the Capitol and filled with objects selected by legislative leaders from both parties, in the Capitol Visitor Center.)

Rios’s aims for the 250th anniversary celebrations extend beyond the 4 July fireworks and parties. “We want the semiquincentennial to be more than a moment; it should be a movement. Our goal is to foster stronger community connections, expand access to culture and history, and inspire a renewed sense of shared purpose across the country,” she says. As part of that, the organisation is promoting a volunteering initiative called America Gives and launching a national day of service timed with the nation’s birthday. “Our goal is for 4 July 2026 to become the largest single day of charitable giving in US history and an enduring tradition in how Americans commemorate Independence Day.”