President Donald Trump's handling of the United States' 250th birthday celebration is drawing harsh criticism as his administration continues to erase history across the National Park System and monetizes the big event for GOP donors.
“America’s 250th anniversary is a time when we should be uplifting what makes our country so special,” Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR), said Tuesday. “Instead, President Trump and (Interior Secretary) Doug Burgum are using this opportunity to whitewash history, ridding the parks of critical historical information from the last 250 years.
"While they erase our past, they simultaneously give special favor to corporations and donors in a brazen act of corruption. Instead of a celebration, the Trump administration continues to show its contempt for the legacy of our national parks," added Wade.
In recent weeks the administration has ordered removal of placards at the President's House in Philadelphia that pointed to George Washington's ownership of slaves and signs at Glacier National Park in Montana, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park in South Carolina, and Muir Woods National Monument in California that explained aspects of climate change.
More recently, a rainbow Pride flag that honors the modern LGBTQ+ Rights movement was removed from Stonewall National Monument in New York City.
“The symbolic and meaningful representation of the Pride flag at Stonewall is at the heart of American history told and celebrated here. Given the Department of Interior’s own guidance, the Pride flag is undoubtedly part of the living history and historical significance connected to Stonewall National Monument. And it should remain," said Timothy Leonard, Northeast program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.
"As the only national park site dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, and at a time where history and science are being removed from our parks, there is no greater time to reinforce the significant meaning of the Pride flag and all it represents at Stonewall," Leonard added.
In Washington, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, during a hearing held by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee castigated both the president and his administration as well as Republicans for letting the administration run roughshod over American history.
“This corrupt, dishonest White House is trying to use America’s 250th milestone as a stage to promote an alternate reality and Trump’s fake America. The darker parts of our past are airbrushed out," said Huffman. "The dire realities of this moment for democracy, for the rule of law, for immigrant communities, and for millions of Americans struggling to keep up with the cost of living, are obscured by gaslighting and declarations of a new golden age.
“But anyone who falls for these gauzy lies, anyone who thinks our founders would approve of what Trump is doing to our country right now, is deluding themselves," he added.
According to ANPR, "donors who give at least $1 million to Freedom 250, a group supporting the Trump administration’s 250th birthday celebrations, will be given access to President Trump, along with various other perks. In other words, high-paying donors will be able to quietly funnel money to seek favor with the president. "
The group said Burgum directed the Interior Department to refer to America250, the recognized name for the country's upcoming birthday, as Freedom 250, "further politicizing the celebration."
In recent months, ANPR said, the administration has removed exhibits pertaining to slavery, climate change, and Native American history from at least 17 national parks. "This recent influx of censorship is just the latest move in the Trump administration’s campaign to strip our beloved national parks of their history, culture, and significance," the group said.
"The irony of stripping the National Park Service of what makes it essential to the United States’s rich culture while creating a slush fund to bankroll corruption at the highest level flies in the face of America’s 250th birthday: a milestone that should reflect on our 250-year-long history and celebrate all that our country has to offer," it added.
Back in Washington, Huffman said “[P]atriotic Americans should be sounding the alarm throughout this 250th year about what is happening in our country right now: unaccountable, militarized, secret police forces terrorizing communities, murdering some people in the streets for caring about their neighbors and peacefully protesting. Our free press is under attack for daring to show the public the truth. Actual history is getting whitewashed and censored from national parks and museums."
To Republican members of the committee, the Democrat said "you let him hijack the country’s 250th anniversary to sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history.”
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