Jeffrey Blehar of National Review Online assesses the Trump administration’s blunders when planning to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
I remember when a friend of mine, back in the fall of 2024, ran down the list of reasons he was going to vote for Donald Trump. Aside from all of the political ones — which need no rehearsal here — he ended with a throw-in point that actually moved me somewhat: “I don’t want America’s 250th anniversary to be run by Kamala Harris and the Democrats.”
And that was an argument I immediately understood. Imagine the public disgraces that Kamala’s Semiquincentennial would have officially sanctioned in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It would have been a yearlong lecture with July 4 a day of solemn reflection and recrimination. …
… You’ve probably heard some of the sad story already: When Donald Trump took office, he pushed aside the (admittedly moribund) bipartisan “America250” commission formed in 2016 for his own Trump-branded “Freedom 250” commission — chaired by JD Vance and programmed from top to bottom by the administration. The big focus? A concert series throughout the summer on the Mall in D.C., climaxing in a three-day July 4 weekend spectacular.
The problem, of course, is that Trump has been persona non grata among the artistic world for years now and is glowingly radioactive after slapping his own name onto the Kennedy Center in a mad fit of vanity.
It’s important to realize the extent to which that one symbolic act, done in intemperate folly, permanently severed any possible link between American artists and the Trump administration. …
… So when the roster for Freedom 250’s July 4th spectacular — a “Great American State Fair” celebration to be held at the Mall in Washington starting on June 24 — was finally announced last Wednesday, the “first wave of performers” was a remarkable collection of has-beens and one-hit wonders. America’s 250th anniversary had now been turned into an “I Love the ’90s” theme, and likely out of sheer necessity. …
… It was a sad lineup, roundly mocked by all — and then even that began to fall apart.
