特朗普政府一直在使用纳税人的钱和企业捐款来组织自己的活动，庆祝国家250周年，实际上放弃了国会创建的两党美国250实体，该实体在过去十年中一直在计划周年纪念。
根据联邦拨款记录，去年，内政部向国家公园基金会(Freedom 250是其子公司)提供了至少6830万美元的纳税人资金，以“支持纪念国家成立500周年的重大活动”和“A250活动”。
“自由250”是一个公私合作项目，由白宫于去年12月发起与监督更广泛的国家纪念活动的美国250组织分开。
Co菲律宾共和国o速度dono同悦
根据该组织网站上列出的一些赞助商名单，除了纳税人的资金，自由250还一直在寻求与特朗普政府直接做生意的企业赞助商的捐款，包括帕兰蒂尔、波音、洛克希德·马丁和联合健康集团。
根据向美国广播公司新闻描述的赞助方案，自由250提供从50万美元到超过1000万美元的分级参与。好处包括贵宾活动准入、品牌推广以及对最大的捐助者来说，在华盛顿特区7月4日庆祝活动上的演讲机会，以及邀请唐纳德·特朗普总统举办的私人招待会。
自由250的结构——作为有限责任公司运作ho使用d501 (c)(3)非盈利性国家公园基金会-允许该组织扣留公司捐赠的金额。
一些监督组织提出了道德问题，指出许多企业赞助商在政府或重大政府合同之前就有业务，包括Palantir和United Airlines。
Palantir与美国政府持有数十亿美元的政府合同，提供人工智能，数据集成和监控软件。联合航空公司还持有许多合同，包括与国防部的运输合同。
监督组织华盛顿公民责任与道德协会(Citizens for respons ibility and Ethics)写道:“为特朗普的7月4日活动(以及其他活动)提供资金的公私合作伙伴关系自由250(Freedom 250)，允许企业为特朗普的又一个宠物项目捐款。”。
America250也是一个501 (c)(3)非营利组织，也得到了许多公司的赞助，其中14家公司支持这两家公司，包括波音、诺斯鲁普·格鲁曼、帕兰蒂尔、波音和联合航空。
阿勒加蒂o纳秒of杂项onduct
众议院自然资源委员会的民主党人本周发布的一份报告称，白宫支持的自由250组织已经成为“腐败和中饱私囊的温床”，该组织利用国家公园基金会的慈善地位来避免审查，并在国会为500周年纪念活动设定的要求之外运作。
该报告称，特朗普政府向捐助者施压，要求他们向自由250捐款，引导捐助者远离美国250，并试图利用对这两个组织的混淆。根据该报告，一些打算给America250捐款的捐赠者获得了自由250的银行信息，以将他们的钱流向特朗普喜欢的实体。
“以国家无党派生日委员会的名义征集的礼物可能会在捐赠者不知情的情况下，被一个为总统的优先事项服务的实体重新分配。如果属实，此类行为可能违反多项法律，从联邦法律下的潜在电信欺诈和慈善募捐欺诈，到哥伦比亚特区法律下的慈善募捐违规，Freedom 250在哥伦比亚特区注册并作为有限责任公司运营，”报告称。
自由250称众议院自然资源委员会民主党报告中的说法“完全错误”
“这份所谓的‘报告’只不过是政客们的党派诽谤，他们宁愿制造分裂，也不愿与全国人民一起庆祝美国250周年诞辰。国会议员应该感到羞耻，他们花了无数的时间编造一份报告，而不是加入美国人创造一个绝对美丽的庆祝活动。自由250的发言人丹尼尔·阿尔瓦雷斯在一份声明中说:“这些说法完全是错误的，令人沮丧的是，华盛顿的一些人对获得政治分数比对纪念我们国家的里程碑更感兴趣。”
A记忆o跨国律师事务所世达律师事务所(Skadden)今年发布的一份报告建议企业客户了解这两个实体之间的差异，并“在进行捐赠之前，确保没有交换条件或其他影响政府决策的联系。”
“在考虑是否捐赠时，有几个关键的法律和声誉因素需要牢记在心。备忘录称:“在下面描述的组织中，自由250已经引起了监督组织和国会民主党人的注意。”。
自由的dom 250对美国250
自由250背离了国会十年前设想的组织周年纪念活动的实体。2016年，国会任命America250组织(官方名称为美国五百周年纪念委员会)牵头规划和庆祝美国250周年。这是一项两党倡议，由时任总统巴拉克·奥巴马签署成为法律，并由两党的公民和立法者领导。
唐纳德·特朗普总统第二次就职几天后，他征d这是一项行政命令，旨在建立白宫工作队，庆祝美国建国250周年，并创建公私合作促进自由250。America250和Freedom 250之间的一个主要区别是，后者的任务组——作为公私合作伙伴关系的一部分，与Freedom 250 LLC合作——缺乏国会监督，并且完全包含在行政部门内，让特朗普拥有完全的控制权。创造自由250的行政命令指出，它将设在国防部，负责协调资金和后勤。
特朗普让自己担任该工作队的主席，并让他的政府成员担任董事会的其他成员，包括副总统和几位内阁秘书。在行政命令中，特朗普明确表示，这支特别工作组将“为美国独立250周年举办一场非凡的庆祝活动”，实际上将国会特许的委员会排除在外。它没有提到美国。
在特朗普去年7月4日签署“一个美丽的大法案”之前，两党委员会通过年度拨款直接从国会获得资金。但《一个美丽的大法案法案》(One Big Beautiful Bill Act)取消了对该委员会的所有提及，而是拨款1.5亿美元给内政部，以计划250周年前后的“事件、庆祝活动和活动”。这实际上允许资金被转移到自由250。
“美国250”继续举办计划中的活动来庆祝美国建国500周年。该组织计划在全国各地举行活动庆祝7月4日，包括费城的团结音乐会、洛杉矶的义演以及在国家广场举行的焰火表演。
但是这两个实体的存在继续引发混乱。也许最值得注意的是，几位艺术家退出了系列音乐会设置为配合美国国家博览会，一个由自由250在国家广场举办的活动，在说他们误认为该活动是由美国250组织的。
“自由250”也是总统所吹捧的许多活动的背后，例如伟大的美国国家博览会和周五晚上在拉什莫尔山举行的活动，他将在那里发表讲话。自由250也是计划在华盛顿特区举行的大型“向美国致敬”烟花表演和庆祝活动的幕后推手，总统也将在那里发表讲话。
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Who is paying for America's 250th celebrations? It's complicated
The Trump administration has been using a mix of taxpayer money and corporate donations to organize its own events celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary, effectively abandoning the bipartisan America250 entity created by Congress that has spent the last decade planning for the anniversary.
Over the last year, the Department of the Interior funneled at least $68.3 million of taxpayer money to the National Park Foundation, which Freedom 250 is a subsidiary of, to "support significant events to commemorate the nation’s semiquincentennial" and "A250 events," according to federal grant records.
Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership that the White House launched in December, and isseparate from America250, which is overseeing the broader national commemoration.
Corporatedonors
In addition to the taxpayer funding, Freedom 250 has been soliciting donations from corporate sponsors that directly do business with the Trump administration, including Palantir, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and United Health Group, according to a list of some of the sponsors listed on the organization's website.
According to a sponsorship package described to ABC News, Freedom 250 offers tiered levels of participation ranging from $500,000 to over $10 million. The benefits include VIP event access, branding and -- for the biggest donors -- speaking opportunities at the July Fourth celebration in Washington, D.C., and invitations to a private reception hosted by President Donald Trump.
The structure of Freedom 250 -- which operates as an LLChousedwithin the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit National Park Foundation -- allows the group to withhold the amount of money companies have donated.
Some watchdog groups have raised ethics concerns, noting that many corporate sponsors have business before the government or significant government contracts, including Palantir and United Airlines.
Palantir holds multi-billion dollar government contracts with the U.S. government providing AI,data integration, and surveillance software.United Airlines also holds numerous contracts including with the Department of Defense for transport.
"Freedom 250, the public-private partnership funding Trump’s Fourth of July events (as well as other events), allows corporations to contribute to yet another one of Trump’s pet projects,” wrote Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.
America250 -- also structured at a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit -- received a number of corporate sponsors as well -- 14 of which backed both entities, including Boeing, Northrup Gruman, Palantir, Boeing and United Airlines.
Allegationsof misconduct
A report issued this week by Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources alleged that the White House-backed Freedom 250 organization has become a "hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment" that is exploiting National Park Foundation's charity status to avoid scrutiny and operate outside the requirements set by Congress for semiquincentennial events.
The report alleged that the Trump administration has pressured donors to give money to Freedom 250, steered donors away from America250, and sought to exploit confusion about the two organizations. According to the report, some donors who intended to give money to America250 were given bank information for Freedom 250 to funnel their money toward Trump's preferred entity.
"A gift solicited in the name of the nation's nonpartisan birthday commission could thus be redirected without the donor's knowledge, by an entity created to serve the President’s priorities. If true, such actions could constitute violations of several laws, ranging from potential wire fraud and charitable solicitation fraud under federal law to charitable solicitation violations under the laws of the District of Columbia, where Freedom 250 is registered and operates as an LLC," the report said.
Freedom 250 called the claims in the House Committee on Natural Resources Democratic report "categorically false."
"This so-called 'report' is nothing more than a partisan smear from politicians who would rather manufacture division than celebrate America’s 250th birthday alongside the rest of the country. Congressional members should be ashamed they are spending countless hours fabricating a report instead of joining Americans in creating an absolutely beautiful celebration. The claims are categorically false, and it’s disheartening that some in Washington are more interested in scoring political points than honoring our nation’s milestone," Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Amemoissued this year by multinational law firm Skadden advised corporate clients to be aware of the difference between the two entities and "ensure before making a donation that there is no quid pro quo or other linkage with influencing a government decision."
"There are several key legal and reputational considerations to bear in mind when considering whether to donate. Of the organizations described below, Freedom 250 has already earned the attention of watchdog organizations and Democrats in Congress," the memo said.
Freedom 250 vs. America250
Freedom 250 is a departure from the entity Congress envisioned a decade ago to organize events for the anniversary. In 2016, Congress appointed the America250 organization (officially known as the United States Semiquincentennial Commission) to spearhead the planning and celebration of America's 250th birthday. It was a bipartisan initiative signed into law by then-President Barack Obama and was led by citizens and lawmakers from both parties.
Days after President Donald Trump assumed office for the second time, hesignedan executive order establishing the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday and creating the public-private partnership for Freedom 250. One of the major distinctions between America250 and Freedom 250 is that the latter's task force -- which partners with the Freedom 250 LLC as part of the public-private partnership -- lacks congressional oversight and is contained wholly within the executive branch, giving Trump full control. The executive order creating Freedom 250 noted that it would be housed in the Department of Defense, which is responsible for coordinating funding and logistics.
Trump made himself chair of the task force and staffed the rest of the board with members of his administration, including the vice president and several Cabinet secretaries. In the executive order, Trump made clear that this task force would "execute an extraordinary celebration of the 250th Anniversary of American Independence," effectively sidelining the congressionally chartered commission. It made no mention of America250.
Until Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July Fourth, the bipartisan commission received funding directly from Congress through annual appropriations. But the One Big Beautiful Bill Act struck all mention of the commission and instead allocated $150 million to the Department of the Interior to plan "events, celebrations, and activities" around the 250th. This effectively allowed for funding to be rerouted to Freedom 250.
America250 has continued to hold events that it planned to celebrate the nation's semiquincentennial. The group has events planned to celebrate the Fourth of July across the country, including a unity concert in Philadelphia, a benefit show in Los Angeles and its own fireworks display on the National Mall.
But the presence of both entities has continued to spark confusion. Perhaps most notably,several artists pulled out of the concert seriesset to coincide with the Great American State Fair, an event put on by Freedom 250 on the National Mall, after saying they mistook the event as being organized by America250.
Freedom 250 is also behind many of the events the president has touted, such as the Great American State Fair and an event at Mount Rushmore Friday night, where he will deliver remarks. Freedom 250 is also behind the massive "Salute to America" fireworks display and celebration planned in Washington, D.C., where the president will also speak.
