{"id":682185,"date":"2026-06-03T16:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/682185\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:58:11","slug":"trumps-hosting-streak-meets-americas-250th-birthday-and-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/682185\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s hosting streak meets America’s 250th birthday and World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 When nearly all the scheduled musical performers pulled out of a concert series<\/a> marking America\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a> \u2014 fearing the event had become too closely tied to President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2014 he responded by making it official.<\/p>\n

Trump announced he\u2019d now be the headlining act<\/a> of the Great American State Fair.<\/p>\n

That put to rest any possible scenario where a president who has built his personal and political persona on seizing the spotlight might cede the stage to avoid overshadowing a national celebration bigger than himself. It also offered a peek into how the president is likely to approach hosting the upcoming World Cup.<\/p>\n

From his reality shows<\/a> before becoming a politician, to hours spent entertaining at events<\/a> in ways planned and impromptu, to proudly showing off his various properties and efforts to overhaul the White House<\/a>, the president relishes hosting. Last year he even jokingly mused about leaving the presidency to do it again full time on TV.<\/p>\n

Trump can be a gracious, personable and highly watchable master of ceremonies \u2014 but he\u2019s also one who tends to make every event about himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe president has an outsized personality,\u201d said Timothy Naftali, former director of Richard Nixon\u2019s presidential library and professor at Columbia University\u2019s School of International and Public Affairs. \u201cThere\u2019s a predictability to the way in which the president frames his actions \u2014 or any actions around any event associated with him \u2014 and that\u2019s just part of who he is, and his makeup and his professional background.\u201d <\/p>\n

Exhibit A is the fair, which begins June 25 and was supposed to feature concerts but now will be kicked off by a Trump rally. That will follow a UFC bout at the White House<\/a> on June 14. Trump is a longtime cage match fan and the event marks his 80th birthday, but the president has sought to bill it as part of the anniversary festivities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The U.S. Capitol backdrops the National Mall where construction crews prepare The Mall for the 250 anniversary celebrations, Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/p>\n

The U.S. Capitol backdrops the National Mall where construction crews prepare The Mall for the 250 anniversary celebrations, Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers continue building the cage for a future UFC fight on the South Lawn in front of the White House, Saturday, May 30 2026, in Washington, as seen from the Washington Monument. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/p>\n

Workers continue building the cage for a future UFC fight on the South Lawn in front of the White House, Saturday, May 30 2026, in Washington, as seen from the Washington Monument. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/p>\n

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Many presidents relished hosting \u2014 but not like this<\/p>\n

Andrew Jackson threw open the White House for an 1829 Inauguration Day bash so unruly that staff eventually dispersed the crowd by moving tubs of whiskey and ice cream to the lawn. Franklin D. Roosevelt mixed pre-dinner cocktails for friends and aides at White House gatherings he playfully dubbed \u201cThe Children\u2019s Hour.\u201d Audrey Hepburn was among the luminaries Ronald Reagan hosted at the White House. <\/p>\n

Trump frequently had first-term dinners with business leaders but has more fully embraced the role since returning to the White House. He built a patio area<\/a> similar to one at his Mar-a-Lago<\/a> estate and frequently travels to Florida and his properties in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Sterling, Virginia, to headline fundraisers and other swanky gatherings.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers prepare the Rose Garden for a dinner that will be hosted by President Donald Trump, Sept. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)<\/p>\n

Workers prepare the Rose Garden for a dinner that will be hosted by President Donald Trump, Sept. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)<\/p>\n

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Asked if Trump might overshadow events meant to bring the country and the world together, White House spokesman Davis Ingle pointed to the president\u2019s efforts to lead extensive renovations at the White House and around Washington<\/a>. He said in a statement that the \u201chistoric beautification\u201d gives the city \u201cthe glory it deserves during our nation\u2019s historic semiquincentennial celebration \u2014 something everyone should celebrate.\u201d <\/p>\n

Still, Trump has found unprecedented ways to inject himself into the anniversary. <\/p>\n

The State Department is issuing passports with the president\u2019s picture<\/a> and officials have designed a new $250 bill with his likeness<\/a>. The Trump Organization, being run by Trump\u2019s children while he\u2019s president, applied to trademark \u201cTrump 250″ logos and other merchandise. <\/p>\n

The U.S. Mint is also producing a 24-karat gold commemorative coin<\/a> with Trump\u2019s face, though that recalls a half-dollar silver coin bearing the likeness of President Calvin Coolidge to help mark America\u2019s 150th anniversary in 1926. <\/p>\n

Past presidents had starring anniversary roles<\/p>\n

Ulysses S. Grant opened a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1876. Richard Nixon, in 1971, inaugurated a five-year \u201cBicentennial Era\u201d ahead of the 200-year mark, though he resigned before the big day arrived. <\/p>\n

Nixon\u2019s successor, Gerald Ford, then in the midst of an ultimately unsuccessful reelection campaign, began the week of July 4, 1976, by inaugurating the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s National Air and Space Museum and attending a Kennedy Center event featuring Bob Hope, O.J. Simpson and others reading patriotic texts. <\/p>\n

On Independence Day, Ford spoke at historic Valley Forge, then traveled to Philadelphia\u2019s Independence Hall, declaring, \u201cLiberty is a living flame to be fed, not dead ashes to be revered.\u201c He also went to New York Harbor for a tall ship parade, presided over naturalization ceremonies at Thomas Jefferson\u2019s Monticello estate and hosted a state dinner for Britain\u2019s Queen Elizabeth II. <\/p>\n

Still, \u201cwhile Ford certainly hoped to use the bicentennial to promote his reelection campaign, he didn\u2019t do it in such a self-aggrandizing, self-centered, narcissistic way,\u201d said Marc Stein, a history professor at San Francisco State University and author of \u201cBicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ford, added Naftali, \u201cknew when to step out of the limelight and make sure the focus was on what mattered, which was the United States of America and the Declaration of Independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, by contrast, \u201cgenerally has contempt for norms\u201d and rarely mentions \u201cthe great sweep of history,\u201d Naftali said. <\/p>\n

Dueling anniversary planners as Trump pushes to revise history <\/p>\n

Congress charged a national organization, America250, with planning commemorative events. Ahead of the 2024 election, the group drafted a memo asking whomever the incoming president was to mobilize federal agencies and welcoming presidential involvement in events and initiatives. <\/p>\n

Asked about Trump, America250 Chair Rosie Rios said the group \u201chas had a very supportive and collaborative relationship with the organizations planning initiatives on behalf of the president.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Rios\u2019 organization is separate from Freedom 250, a mix of public and private partnerships which the Trump administration established to fund and prepare anniversary events \u2014 which has caused confusion.<\/p>\n

America250 aims to \u201cinspire our fellow Americans to reflect on our past, strengthen our love of country, and renew our commitment to the ideals of democracy through programs that educate, engage, and unite us as a nation.\u201d <\/p>\n

That might seem a departure from the \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History\u201d executive order Trump signed last year. It sought to beat back a \u201crevisionist movement\u201d responsible for \u201creplacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.\u201d <\/p>\n

Stein, now serving a one-year term as president of the Organization of American Historians, is helping organize \u201cWe Want More History,\u201d a push to coordinate local events celebrating the public\u2019s love for the subject in fact-based ways. <\/p>\n

He said Trump\u2019s version of history is \u201ccloser to propaganda, and it\u2019s closer to cheerleading.\u201d <\/p>\n

World Cup gives Trump another platform to play host<\/p>\n

The president has similarly taken his exceeding-normal-limits approach to the soccer tournament the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada. <\/p>\n

He created a federal World Cup task force, and leads it. He collected a peace prize<\/a> from soccer\u2019s governing body, FIFA<\/a>, and said he\u2019d be on stage to present the tournament\u2019s golden trophy to the winning team. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump stands on stage after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin, file)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump stands on stage after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin, file)<\/p>\n

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Trump even oversaw the tournament\u2019s draw<\/a> at the Kennedy Center, which he\u2019s sought to rename for himself<\/a>, sparking legal challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He returned to the same building to headline December\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors,<\/a> noting, \u201cWe never had a president hosting the awards before.\u201d He later posted on social media, \u201cWould you like me to leave the Presidency in order to make \u2018hosting\u2019 a full time job?\u201d <\/p>\n

Naftali noted, \u201cWhatever filters there were in the first term \u2014 and there weren\u2019t many \u2014 are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s undiluted Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 When nearly all the scheduled musical performers pulled out of a concert series marking America\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[86159,75475,17809,3505,12,1070,88,41363,793,3502,3138,57186,15104,2085,111,8455,3504,17570,67978,296938,1049,800],"class_list":["post-682185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-andrew-jackson","tag-calvin-coolidge","tag-decor","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-entertainment","tag-franklin-d-roosevelt","tag-general-news","tag-gerald-ford","tag-government-and-politics","tag-kennedy-center-honors","tag-o-j-simpson","tag-philadelphia","tag-politics","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-richard-nixon","tag-ronald-reagan","tag-thomas-jefferson","tag-ulysses-s-grant","tag-united-kingdom","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}