Despite concerns about the weather, the Army 250th anniversary parade will be held
President Donald Trump’s controversial military parade kicked off 30 minutes early to avoid the bad weather.
WASHINGTON – July 4th isn’t until Friday, but for President Donald Trump, the party starts a day ago on July 3rd.
And the celebration lasts for the next 365 days.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US establishment, the White House is planning a one-year event nationwide that will peak one year later on July 4, 2026, just 250 years after signing the Declaration of Independence.
Trump is scheduled to begin the one-year countdown to America’s 250th birthday, speaking Thursday night at the Iowa fairgrounds in Des Moines, which includes “patriotic entertainment” and fireworks.
Trump – who has long embraced the themes and images of patriotism to complement his “America First” agenda – had already had a controversial taxpayer-funded military parade last month on the streets of Washington, D.C. (This parade marks the 250th anniversary of the US military and has also dropped to the president’s 79th birthday.)
Now he has the opportunity to drape himself in red, white and blue for the next 12 months.
“We’re planning a party. We’re planning a national celebration to really unite the country,” White House ambassador Monica Crowley, which includes the 250th anniversary ceremony, said this week in an interview with Fox News, where she was previously a contributor. “Bundle the country with a new sense of shared patriotism, shared values, and citizen pride.”
With a loss in the 2020 election but winning in 2024, Trump realized that he would now become America’s 250th birthday president and that he would now be America’s 250th birthday when the US hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the world’s most popular sporting event in the same year. In the summer of 2028, Los Angeles plays the host of the Summer Olympics while he is still in his second term.
“Can you imagine? You miss those four years and see what I have now. I have everything,” Trump said May 26 at National Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day. “The way things go well is amazing. God did it, and I believe it,” he added with a laugh.
Who is leading the 250th birthday effort?
The festival, called America250, is organized by a nonprofit organization of the same name, created in 2019, after Congress took action three years ago to establish the US Semi-Centennial Committee and commence the country’s 250th anniversary ceremony.
The initiative is assumed to be a nonpartisan issue, but the Atlantic reported that the group was effectively operating “as a rig of Trump’s White House operations.”
The newly appointed executive director of the American250 is Ariel Abergel, a former producer of Fox at Fox News and a friend who interns at the White House during Trump’s first term. According to the Atlantic, he brought in other Fox News employees and helped by a Trump campaign aide, including senior adviser Chris Lacivita.
America250’s corporate sponsors include several executives led by executives who tried to curry favors Trump, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Amazon, Coinbase, and Oracle.
In a post about the True Society, Trump said the kickoff of the US 250 in Iowa would be “a very special event honoring our great nation and the brave heroes who fought to free us.”
It also gives Trump the first opportunity to publicly promote the so-called “big and beautiful bill.” But only if he can push Republicans ahead of his self-imposed holiday deadline.
Trump has a history of turning traditionally nonpartisan events into supercharged political glasses. In a June 10 speech to the military in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Trump accused California governor and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of “incompetence.” He also singled out media covering the event as “fake news,” and his speech sounded more like a Trump campaign rally than a uniformed military speech.
Which US 250 events are scheduled for next year?
Trump signed the January 29 executive order and directed the administration to organize a “magnificent celebration worthy of a critical occasion” for America’s 250th birthday. This includes the creation of a task force to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Secretaries of Trump Ministers, chaired by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
White House officials have assigned USA Today a point person to coordinate with the White House in its US 250 plan by federal departments and agents.
The full America250 activities and projects have not been announced, but some are under work.
The most widely published plan is for the “National Garden of American Heroes,” which honors 250 American heroes in a wide range of fields. Trump revives the garden plans he pushed in his first term as part of his American 250 executive order. The garden location has not been decided. The updated timeline is expected to be completed “as fast as possible.”
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has announced the “Great American Road Trip” to “America’s 250th Birthday,” highlighting popular travel routes, historic landmarks and scenic destinations in all 50 states.
The White House has begun publishing videos showing narrated cartoon versions of signatories of the Declaration of Independence, including South Carolina President Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Hayward Jr. In the final year of his first White House term, Trump created the “1776 Committee” to promote what he called “patriotic education.”
There is also a national student writing and artwork contest where children are asked to answer, “What does America mean to you?” The Storytelling Project is trying to preserve a direct account of a well-known and lesser-known American. And the US aims to increase volunteer activities.
Efforts are underway to collect “time capsules” items that will be buried in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026. The celebration also marks the 250th anniversary of the Navy and Air Force, but neither is expected to include a parade like the US military, which marks its 250th anniversary.
And you can be sure that Trump will be headlined for several more American 250 events after Iowa.
“It’s a real gift to have him in office,” Crawley said. “Can you imagine other teams taking office for America 250?”
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
