Trump’s Fourth of July Fiasco Is Entirely His Fault

Ideally, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States would be an occasion for a thoughtful patriotism that merges gratitude with reflection. The quarter-millennium since the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been marked by tremendous achievements—most notably the abolition of slavery, the expansion of democracy—but also by horrifying wars and domestic strife. Coming to terms with the full complexity of the US, its successes and failures alike, would be a tremendous opportunity for enriching civic life.

Unfortunately, our world is far from ideal. Donald Trump, a ridiculous caricature of the worst features of US culture, is president. He’s not inclined to introspective patriotism. In fact, any sort of sincere patriotism is alien to him, since it would involve acknowledging a reality larger and more important than himself.

Not surprisingly, Trump is rapidly turning this year’s 250th events—in particular, a planned series of Fourth of July celebrations on the National Mall—into yet another tribute to his own greatness. The story of Trump’s hijacking of the holiday (awkwardly dubbed the United States Semiquincentennial) is instructive.

A big holiday party needs serious preparation. In 2016, when Barack Obama was president, Congress established a bipartisan organization called America250. Ever since, America250 has been laying the groundwork for a string of parades and block parties across the country. The plans are very much in keeping with earlier national anniversaries such as the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976.

But a bipartisan group celebrating a widely shared form of patriotism was a poor fit for Trump’s rabid partisanship and desire to be at the center of every story. The president issued an executive order to create a rival organization that he could control called Freedom 250. Bypassing congressional control is a typical Trump tactic, as is the use of private donations to fund public events. Like his inauguration celebration, Freedom 250 is being financed through a murky private/public funding scheme rife with conflicts of interest. As the good government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington notes, “Many of the companies sponsoring Freedom 250 have business before the government or significant government contracts, including United Airlines, Palantir, Deloitte and Lockheed Martin.”

One of the marquee events Freedom 250 had been planning was The Great American State Fair, which is set to run from June 25 to July 10 in Washington. Prominent musicians had been invited to the Fair, which they seem to have mistakenly thought of as a nonpartisan event. Once the Fair’s connections to Trump were publicized last week, there was a mass exodus, with nearly all the scheduled acts dropping out. As USA Today reports:

A lineup of music superstars rounded up to perform has collapsed significantly in the last two days, with Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida among the remaining acts.

The rest of the fair’s performers have walked back their involvement with the event.

Among those who have dropped out are Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, The Commodores, and Young MC.

With his big party rapidly turning into a fiasco, Trump responded with his usual good grace on Saturday, posting on Truth Social:

I understand Artists are getting “the yips” having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President! Two years ago, the United States was DEAD. Now we have the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. I don’t want so-called “Artists” that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited—It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America! President DONALD J. TRUMP

This peevish post is at least honest. Trump isn’t pretending to be a president of all the people, a leader who offers a patriotic celebration that appeals to the majority. Rather, his vision of the nation is as narrow as can be. Trump thinks American greatness resides in himself and the people who appreciate him. This is the same shameless narcissism that gave the world Trump Tower, Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Airlines, and so many other monuments to an insatiable hunger for fame.

Any honest critique of the United States would acknowledge that Trump does represent part of the national culture. It’s hardly an accident that he was twice elected president and has dominated politics for more than a decade. Trump embodies the dangers of self-aggrandizement that grow out of American individualism. He is the worst-case scenario of the Jeffersonian dream of the “pursuit of happiness” curdling into nothing more than soulless accumulation and boasting.

But if Trump represents one dismal part of America’s patrimony, he is far from the whole of the country. America also includes tens of millions, perhaps even a majority, that reject Trump and everything he stands for. This other America will do well to tune Trump out on the Fourth of July. Now more than ever, Independence Day will be a moment demanding more than mindless flag-waving. It’ll be a day for national soul-searching.