Can you imagine an America 250 celebration run by any other president but Donald Trump?
Obama would have rolled with a 47-minute speech about American exceptionalism, then spent the next year publicly apologizing for it. The Davos-led plans for the U.S. fireworks display would have come with a pledge that “If you like your fireworks, you can keep your fireworks.” Instead of a military flyover, the White House would have streamed a two-hour Netflix mutual admiration lovefest narrated by Obama and Bruce Springsteen – about Obama and Bruce Springstreen.
Joe Biden would have opened the year-long celebration wishing America a happy 500th birthday. The White House would have hosted a backyard tofu barbeque complete with a transgender wet t-shirt contest, drag show and a VIP tent featuring Hunter’s favorite cocaines from all 50 states.
Kamala Harris would have summarized America’s history since 1776, explaining history is important because history is historical in this moment, and is unburden by the history that has passed historically for all people whether in the past or for tomorrow.
Even the most dyed-in-the wool Trump hater has to admit: Nobody could have done America 250 like Trump. Whatever his faults, Trump’s love for his country and his penchant for throwing a party are both unmatched. The president has proved it during our hallmark celebration.
Salesmanship mattered too. Nobody puts the squeeze on corporate America and rich friends like Trump, who finagled half of the $60 million cost for the UFC Freedom 250 fight at the White House. Penske paid the bulk of the $20 million expense of Sunday’s Freedom 250 IndyCar Race on the streets of D.C., with sponsored VIP hospitality suites funding additional costs. And it was only possible with a new sense of security brought by Trump’s anti-crime revamp of the nation’s capital. Not long ago, the biggest risk of an Indy race in D.C. would have been the drivers being carjacked.
The Trump team’s workup itself has been an example of American ingenuity and gusto. Beginning New Year’s Eve 2025, the Washington Monument became a huge 360-degree projection screen for six nights, telling American history from exploration and independence through industrialization and modern innovation. The Great American State Fair June 25-July 10 ultimately became essentially a World’s Fair-style exposition on the National Mall, with more than 150 exhibits, state and territorial pavilions, agriculture, industry and innovation displays, concerts, military performances, flyovers, rides and a Ferris wheel. Trump-hate states with their shorts in a knot stayed home. Too bad. The event was pure Americana and got rave reviews – but was mostly ignored by the media.
The July 4 Salute to America rightfully boasted the military that continues to shape the globe. Military ceremonies, bands, performers, the largest fireworks display in history. More than a million people attended on the National Mall. Six “Freedom Trucks” have crawled the highways of the lower 48 throughout the year, stopping at schools, libraries, parks, sporting events and community gatherings, with a goal to reach 20 million Americans. Trump has also proposed a monumental triumphal arch in Washington—an American counterpart in concept to Paris’s Arc de Triomphe—as another permanent monument associated with the 250th celebration. The president also revived his first-term plan for a monumental sculpture park containing 250 statues of notable Americans—founders, presidents, military heroes, civil-rights figures, scientists, artists, athletes and others, with a site in West Potomac Park.
Unfortunately those of us old enough to remember the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 have barely recognized our 250th. Media in 1976 treated the event as a major national celebration. CBS aired a nightly “Bicentennial Minute” for more than two years, then devoted roughly 16 hours to July 4 coverage; NBC aired about 10 hours. Newspapers produced huge commemorative editions, including a 564-page Washington Post on July 4 headlined simply, “America Celebrates Its 200th.” The tone was patriotic, historical and celebratory, even though the country was still dealing with Vietnam, Watergate and social unrest.
But a mainstream media now based first and foremost in Trump hate before national pride robbed us of our collective moment this time around. So did a politically fractured audience now splintered into thousands of echo chamber social media channels. In 1976 we gasped in awe as the tall ships entered New York Harbor; this time 100 international ships did the same, almost invisible to mainstream media, and thus their spectacle was greatly unknown to the public.
In 1976 the media celebrated our nation’s amazing bicentennial milestone; in 2026 for its 250th, it bashed Trump. Sometimes, it was as if Trump was the only person excited about celebrating.
If you embrace the theme, planning the party is a joy. Trump loves America and recognizes his personal family fortune and his stellar rise to two presidencies would have been possible nowhere else. His multi-faceted party for the nation has been fitting of America’s rich diversity, it’s amazing original story, and its historic grandeur.
