President Trump\u2019s allies are offering access to him and other perks to donors who give at least $1 million to a new group supporting flashy initiatives he is planning around the nation\u2019s 250th birthday, according to documents and interviews.<\/p>\n
The group, Freedom 250, is threatening to overshadow years of plans meant to reach the broadest cross section of Americans for semiquincentennial celebrations. They are now taking on a Trumpian flare, replete with marble and machismo.<\/p>\n
But Freedom 250 has also emerged as another vehicle, akin to the White House ballroom project<\/a>, through which people and companies with interests before the Trump administration can make tax-deductible donations to gain access to, and seek favor with, a president who has maintained a keen interest in fund-raising, and a willingness to use the levers of government power to reward financial supporters.<\/p>\n When Mr. Trump announced the creation of Freedom 250 in a social media post<\/a> in December, he promised that it would give the nation \u201cthe most spectacular birthday party you\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Several of Freedom 250\u2019s planned events and monuments lack obvious connections to the Boston Tea Party, the signing of the Declaration of Independence or other seminal moments in the nation\u2019s founding. Rather, they are tailored to Mr. Trump\u2019s political agenda and his penchant for spectacle, personal branding and legacy. They include the construction of an arch overlooking Washington<\/a>, an IndyCar race<\/a> through the nation\u2019s capital, a national prayer event and an Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> match on the White House lawn to coincide with the president\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n Meredith O\u2019Rourke, the president\u2019s top fund-raiser, is amassing private donations for Freedom 250. Her team is circulating a solicitation<\/a>, obtained by The New York Times, offering \u201cbespoke packages\u201d for donors.<\/p>\n While there are inconsistencies in the solicitation language, the detailed breakdowns of packages for donors indicate that those who give $1 million or more will get invitations to a \u201cprivate Freedom 250 thank you reception\u201d hosted by Mr. Trump, with a \u201chistoric photo opportunity.\u201d Those who give $2.5 million or more also are being offered speaking roles at an event in Washington on July 4.<\/p>\n The effort is reminiscent of fund-raising Mr. Trump has spearheaded<\/a> since he returned to the Oval Office last year for other groups and projects he has backed, including the ballroom and a supportive super PAC.<\/p>\n While presidents usually dial back their fund-raising in their second terms or focus on helping their party, as they are barred by the Constitution from seeking re-election, Mr. Trump has hosted a series of dinners and gatherings for corporate executives and wealthy individuals who have given millions to his favored causes. Some donors have used the forums to seek favor<\/a>, and his administration has sometimes given<\/a> them what they want<\/a>, though there is no definitive link between government actions<\/a> and donations.<\/p>\n To be sure, there is a long history of politicizing or raising corporate money for national celebrations, including during the 1976 bicentennial.<\/p>\n President Richard M. Nixon was criticized for stacking the planning commission with political allies, said M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, a professor at American University in Washington who wrote a book about the 1976 bicentennial. The bicentennial had so many corporate partners that people began calling it the \u201cbuy-centennial,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But Mr. Trump is taking things to new levels. Compared with Mr. Nixon, Ms. Rymsza-Pawlowska said, Mr. Trump is politicizing the celebrations \u201cin a more overt way, and with less pushback.\u201d<\/p>\n In comments to The Times, representatives from the White House and Freedom 250 downplayed concerns about selling access to donors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe President is incredibly grateful to his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can\u2019t be bought by anyone,\u201d said Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Freedom 250.<\/p>\n In response to questions about Freedom 250\u2019s fund-raising, Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, said in a statement that Mr. Trump was \u201censuring that America gets the spectacular birthday it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n The president\u2019s embrace of Freedom 250 has raised concerns among some involved in the similarly named America250, a bipartisan commission established by Congress a decade ago that is planning more traditional celebrations of the United States\u2019 semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n While America250 is a stand-alone congressionally authorized nonprofit group, Freedom 250 utilizes opaque corporate structures. Both groups could shield the identities of some donors from the public, though most sponsorships are expected to be advertised. (Mr. Trump\u2019s supporters previously urged corporations and individuals to give to America250 as well.)<\/p>\n While Freedom 250 is seen as a Trump-controlled group, it is technically a limited liability corporation<\/a> created by, and housed inside, the National Park Foundation. A congressionally chartered apolitical nonprofit group, the foundation serves as the official fund-raising arm of the National Park Service and raises money for things like wildlife conservation.<\/p>\n Each administration can appoint people to the park foundation\u2019s board. The Trump administration added two stalwart supporters in November: Ms. O\u2019Rourke and Chris LaCivita, Mr. Trump\u2019s 2024 campaign co-manager.<\/p>\n In a statement, the National Park Foundation said it created Freedom 250 to fund special events \u201cat the direction of the National Park Service,\u201d and beyond what congressionally appropriated funds supported.<\/p>\n Keith Krach, a former Silicon Valley executive who was appointed under secretary of state during the first Trump administration, has been chosen as chief executive of Freedom 250.<\/p>\n Updated\u00a0<\/p>\n Feb. 7, 2026, 4:31 p.m. ET<\/p>\n On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, at a venue featuring Freedom 250, Mr. Krach appeared to solicit support from attendees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got tool kits for countries, states, companies, all that. It\u2019s all about partnership,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cLet us know.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Alvarez said that Freedom 250 is not accepting foreign donations.<\/p>\n There is an array of perk packages for prospective donors, according to the solicitation.<\/p>\n Contributors who give at least $500,000 get \u201cV.I.P. access, invitations and preferred seating at all Freedom 250 events.\u201d Those include a prayer gathering called \u201cRededicate 250 \u201c; a Memorial Day event; a \u201cGreat American State Fair\u201d over the summer; a July 4 celebration; and a high school athletic competition in the fall, where, Mr. Trump promised in his announcement video, \u201cthere will be no men playing in women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n Freedom 250 will also help oversee an IndyCar race<\/a> planned for the summer called the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will wend its way through Washington\u2019s streets and around the National Mall.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump indicated in his announcement video that Freedom 250 would help facilitate a National Garden of American Heroes, a sculpture garden of 250 prominent American figures; a \u201cbeautiful triumphal arch\u201d near the Lincoln Memorial in the style of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; and a U.F.C. fight on the White House grounds.<\/p>\n America250 will manage more traditional celebrations, like promoting the anniversary at football games and encouraging Americans to put in a record number of hours volunteering for their communities this year.<\/p>\n Rosie Rios, a former Obama administration official who is the chairwoman of America250, said in a statement that her group welcomed Freedom 250\u2019s providing \u201ca clear funding mechanism\u201d to advance presidential initiatives that would \u201cgive the American people more ways they can celebrate America\u2019s 250th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n But one member of the commission \u2014 Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democrat of New Jersey \u2014 said she was concerned that taxpayer money allotted by Congress for the celebration would be steered by the Trump administration to Freedom 250 and not to her group.<\/p>\n America250 has received only $25 million of the $150 million appropriated last summer for the celebrations, Ms. Watson Coleman said, far less than the $100 million it had asked for. She said she believed Freedom 250 would get the bulk of the rest, but she still hoped her group would receive another $25 million.<\/p>\n She worried that Americans tuning in on July 4 would see a celebration meant to glorify Mr. Trump, and little trace of her group\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to understand that there\u2019s a dual track going on here,\u201d Ms. Watson Coleman said. \u201cAnd one of the lanes of that endeavor is to get everybody\u2019s story out, and the other is trying to showcase the president and have his ego stroked.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Alvarez said that Freedom 250 existed \u201cto celebrate the last 250 years and look ahead to the next 250 in a way that honors the country,\u201d adding that the group was not in competition with America250.<\/p>\n About $10 million in taxpayer funds<\/a> has already been redirected to Freedom 250 from America250 for a fleet of six mobile museums called \u201cFreedom Trucks<\/a>\u201d that rolled out last month.<\/p>\n