President Donald Trump has ever big plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, which begins this month. Some are anodyne: government displays on the National Mall, for example, and what will reportedly be a record-breaking fireworks display.
Others, though, are more focused on Trump than America: There will also be a UFC cage match on the South Lawn of the White House (the president’s birthday), and the planned “Freedom 250” concert has already turned into a full Trump rally. And the whole thing is managed by not one group but two: America250, Congress’s decade-long initiative to celebrate the country, and Freedom 250, which is the Trump administration itself.
So, should Americans still be excited about big parties? Today, It’s Explained asked the editor-in-chief of Semafor Ben Smith, who explains how the two-year-old American party got political. He also talks to Today, It’s Explained co-host Noel King about the warring factions behind the celebrations, how Freedom 250 fell apart, and what else is planned for the celebration.
The following is part of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s more throughout the episode, so tune in Today, It’s Explained wherever you find podcasts, incl Apple Podcasts, Pandoraand Spotify.
What do you think President Trump is trying to say about this celebration?
I think President Trump is trying to celebrate America as he sees it, which is not completely separate from celebrating himself.
Do you believe that what President Trump is doing is right?
Most Americans think it’s a good idea to celebrate major national holidays.
There is a congressional body called the Semi-Sesquicentennial Commission. It’s been there for years, getting ready to put up the flag at football games, and drop the ball in Times Square, and do general celebrations for America’s 250th birthday. The Trump administration thought that was a sleeper and didn’t have the kind of show that Donald Trump likes. They wanted more glam, and more fireworks, and more castle matches on the White House lawn.
As I’ve been talking to people on these two opposing semi-sesquicentennial committees, they’re working mostly with people who were trying hard, at least temporarily, to get along and not celebrate America’s 250th birthday going into the partisan frenzy that everything else in America goes into.
Are they competing now? Are they still working together?
They have always been competing and looking at each other with slight disdain. Because Republicans control Congress, and because Trump basically controls the Republican Party, two-thirds of the money appropriated by Congress went to the White House branch, not the congressional branch.
The bipartisan members of Congress (committees) had $50 million to play with and they collected a bunch of outside money, and so they were sadly satisfied. In fact, there was a plan to explore the darkest aspects of America’s past, which, when Trump won, they stopped, because the White House doesn’t like to do that.
Much has been made of the concert series. Can you tell us where it all started and where we are now?
There was an idea that came out of the hand led by the White House that I think is a fun idea: the Great State Fair of America, to have the spirit of the state fairs – which are, in fact, beautiful American institutions – on the Mall in Washington. And as part of that, there would be big concerts with favorite artists.
Artists in general, most of them have learned to stay away from politics. (And) Donald Trump is not very popular right now, which I think has made it difficult for him to get any mainstream, popular artists to appear. So what they did was a group of the most underrated artists of the ’90s and early 2000s: C+C Music Factory: Young MC of the smash hit “Bust A Move;” and Vanilla Ice.
I’m a child of the 80s. I would have enjoyed this, but it was kind of an embarrassing row to begin with. And then when the Young MC realized that, in his opinion, he had been trying to do a pro-Trump version instead of a bipartisan version, he stopped.
Normally, when you book an artist for something like this, you don’t see this happening, because everyone signs a contract – they know what they’re signing. But these people are also sensitive to social networks and, apparently, they did not want any kind of association with the White House or Donald Trump.
And so, only Vanilla Ice remains.
What else is planned? There is a UFC fight that is drawing a lot of attention. Are any of the original states’ rights aspects preserved? Are we getting a giant Ferris wheel?
There will be carnival stuff. I’m not sure if there will be big pigs and cows, but that’s always a fun feature. But mostly, there will be Donald Trump.
I mean, it’s the most common cycle of American politics: Trump says, “I want to put on a big bipartisan show,” and it leans more toward Democrats and these artists are satisfied with it, and they stop, and Trump says, “Well, okay. I’m going to turn this into a big rally for myself.” Democrats say, “Well, you’d always do that.” And he says, “No, you forced me in.” And it’s kind of worse than doing nothing in the end, if the goals were bringing Americans together to celebrate a birthday.
I think the White House is seeing an opportunity to accuse Democrats of not being patriotic enough and selling out America’s birthday party. And I think some Democrats are a little worried that the party will be perceived as unpatriotic. But as this thing continues to escalate, I think many Americans may see it as Washington’s latest partisan antics.
This can be fun, let’s be honest.
I mean, it can still be fun. You don’t know until you go.
It can still be fun. will you go
If I can, yes. I live in New York, so I’ll have to travel down.
I’m already predicting – and I could be wrong – that the biased nature will make it less fun than it would be if we all agreed to get along.
Maybe less fun for you, more fun for others. It’s actually one of the qualities of Trump’s rallies that I think his opponents miss is that it’s really fun for the people who go.
That is a very good point. So I would ask if Donald Trump really cares about the people who attend, and I think what I’m hearing you say is if it’s his supporters, yes, he cares that they’re having a good time.
Yes, I think he wants to make a big party for his followers and not for “haters and losers.”
What do we know about fireworks?
Trump loves a show. He talks about building a a great triumphal archthough honestly, I’m not sure what victory you intend to celebrate. If he has a fireworks display, it will be the biggest fireworks display in history. Hide your dog.
