Donald Trump’s favorite thing about America is that he lives in it. It’s hard to point to a president that wasn’t self-absorbed, of course — Obama had an ego on him, as well — but “President DJT,” as he signs his tweets, takes personal pride to a new level.
Trump has put his personal stamp on every American institution within his reach, and the celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, known confusingly as the semiquincentennial, is no exception. Instead of a celebration of the country, Trump’s “Freedom 250” celebrations honor a particular vision of America — one set by one man, organized largely to boost his ego and flex his power over our political system and way of life.
Trump’s co-option of the semiquincentennial has taken many forms — slow and gradual ones like the subtle rebranding of the event, and bizarre, brazen ones like placing his name and likeness on new U.S. passports, coins, and other items. It’s a fitting demonstration of the current state of America: at the end of its imperial rope, a society that has been degraded so far by its own excesses that the Founding Fathers would barely recognize it now.
Here are some of the ways Trump made our country’s 250th birthday all about himself.
Neutering the America 250 commission and replacing it with Freedom 250
You need time to plan a good party. In 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, the nation began looking ahead toward the 250th anniversary celebrations. Congress established a commission that would theoretically oversee planning of the festivities a decade in advance, to ensure that everything went well regardless of who was in power.
And then Trump happened. In 2025, upon his return to the White House, Trump effectively neutered America 250, and created his own party planning committee: Freedom 250. Where America 250 was supposed to be nonpartisan, Freedom 250 is Trumpian, stuffed with allies of the president and focused on projects that reflect the presidents’ personal style. To top it all off, the funds originally allocated to America 250 have largely been diverted to Trump’s commission, which is not subject to the same oversight and appropriations restrictions as the original group.
Starting the celebration on his birthday with UFC fights at the White House
Trump kicked off the American 250 celebrations not in the month of July, when the actual semiquincentennial falls, but in the middle of June. Specifically, he picked the weekend of June 14, his 80th birthday, to really go all out, hosting a unique Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the grounds of the White House. The event, according to the UFC, was a massive success — they certainly sold enough ads around it — but it was profound how little that had to do with the actual fights themselves. Sure, there was a shock upset when Justin Gaethje beat the Spanish phenom Ilia Topuria, but the real star on display was Donald Trump himself.
Putting his face on a new anniversary edition of the passport
Trump has spent much of his second term obsessing over branding, particularly putting his name and face on every piece of public property he could get his hands on. If seeing Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center or his face on the Department of Interior wasn’t enough, Trump wants to make sure you can’t escape him — even if you leave the country.
In order to commemorate the 250th, the president ordered the creation of 40,000 special edition passports featuring the image of a glaring Trump in front of the Declaration of Independence. An image which — according to Trump — conveys the message, ‘Welcome, but be good.”
Putting his face on “America 250” National Park passes
One of the nation’s greatest treasures are its beautiful landscapes and natural environmental diversity. Amber waves of grain, purple mountains’ majesty, you know the song. One of the ways Americans can enjoy the natural splendor of the country is through its national parks, and the National Parks Service offers a slate of passes for locals and travelers looking to enjoy public lands. The passes have historically featured photos of wildlife or famous American landmarks. But this is Trump’s America, and on the semiquincentennial he wants you to reflect not on the wild beauty that marked these lands centuries before the settlers, and will likely outlast the nation, but on himself.
To add insult to injury, Trump also has been raiding the coffers of the National Parks Service to fund a series of vanity projects for himself. A New York Times report found that nearly $60 million in Park pass revenue was going directly towards Trump’s repairs to Washington, D.C.’s ornamental fountains, and another $7 million is funding the disastrous Reflecting Pool renovation. The administration is being sued over it, but outdoorsmen across the country have already found themselves carrying Trump around in their wallets, all so he can freshen up the finishes on some of D.C.’s ceremonial hardware.
His administration trying to put his face on a $250 bill
If Trump’s favorite thing in the world is solid gold, his second favorite is cash money. Before becoming president and adopting “Y.M.C.A.” as his de-facto anthem, Trump’s theme song was quite literally “For the Love of Money” by The O’Jays.
These days, Trump has a lot more power than when he was on The Apprentice, and he wants to put his face on America’s currency. The Trump administration and the U.S. treasury proposed issuing a 250th anniversary $250 dollar bill featuring not a dead pv resident, but the very much still alive Donald Trump.
It’s actually against the law to put a living politician on currency. It would require an act of Congress to make an exception for Trump and, sure enough, Republicans have introduced legislation to get his face onto a $250 bill — even though it stands almost no chance of passing.
Putting his face on a commemorative gold coin
OK, so maybe a $250 bill isn’t in the cards, but you know what the mint is great at? Commemorative coins! The U.S. treasury did approve a design for a 24-karat gold coin bearing Trump’s presidential portrait on the front, and a bald eagle on the reverse. The size and worth of the coin have not yet been announced..
Replacing 250th anniversary musical performances with a rally speech
The regional musical headliner or aging country star is a vital part of most great fairs, and Trump certainly tried to make his national celebration the same. Unfortunately, he failed, as star after star pulled out when it became clear that Trump was relentlessly politicizing their performances. Instead, Trump did what he always does: took the spotlight himself. Instead of seeing, say, Martina McBride or … Vanilla Ice, for some reason, audiences instead were treated to, and you need to read this full quote by Trump himself, “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!”
Incredible stuff, Mr. President. Bars worthy of Vanilla Ice, indeed.
Putting his face on commemorative banners all over the capital
You may have noticed a pattern at this point: Trump likes seeing his own face. Perhaps he is psychologically trapped in the image like Narcissus, or pulling a reverse Dorian Grey in which the more portraits of himself he puts up looking 20 years younger, the older he looks in person. Trump has been hanging banners of himself on buildings across the capital, including on the Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor. Many of the “America 250” banners are placed alongside images of other famed presidents like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. It’s just another way Trump is trying to associate himself with the idea of American greatness. If the anemic crowds in Washington, D.C., this week are any indication, the effort is falling flat.
People bicycle along the water in Manhattan, New York, on April 16, 2026.
It Doesn’t Get Much Dumber Than Trump’s War on ‘DEI Bike Lanes’
Out of all the sins of the Trump administration — wars, ICE raids, anti-vax lunacy and the return of measles, the empowering of Kash Patel and Stephen Miller, and so much more — Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy declaring war on “DEI bike lanes” is surely a small thing. But it’s also such a monumentally stupid act, so counterproductive, so anti-MAHA as to be completely maddening. NPR recently reported that staff at the Federal Highway Administration have been asked to purge any references to bikes and bike lanes from the agency’s website.
Additionally, Duffy, a former Real World and Road Rules participant, retired member of Congress, and devoted Donald Trump sycophant, wrote: “We urge Congress to restrict competitive and formula grant funding for bicycle lanes and other bicycle infrastructure that reduce travel throughput [sic] for motor vehicles and support removal of existing bike lanes that contribute to congestion.”
Despite protests, the feds moved to dismantle a beloved D.C. bike lane earlier this year, but that action was halted when a judge, in response to a lawsuit brought be a local bicycling group, paused the destruction, writing in a 61-page opinion: “The Court’s review of the record reveals the absence of a reasoned explanation.”
Logical arguments are out but irrational attacks are a constant feature of the Trump administration. And in this case, Duffy and Trump are going after something that is widely popular and spinning it into partisan nonsense. According to a 2025 YouGov poll, three quarters of Americans support having bike lanes. Broadly speaking, Americans think bike lanes increase quality of life and safety for drivers and cyclists alike. Bike paths and rail trails also bring tourism to places in rural America hungry for visitors and are a huge boost to local economies. The Empire State Trail in New York stretches from Manhattan all the way to Canada and generates a whopping $1.87 billion in economic activity, according to a recent study. Some 9.75 million visitors have ridden parts of the trail.
Nor are bike lane projects particularly expensive, especially along urban routes. Certainly not compared to, say, lobbing more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iran at a cost of some $2 million a shot. For an administration that claims to want to make people healthy again, the declaration of war on bike lanes may be as bizarre as spending billions to attack Iran. Biking is an excellent low-impact cardio endeavor. Riding a bike helps to clear the mind, brings people outside, and is a fun family activity. Moreover, in the winter, cross country skiers and snowmobilers can enjoy those same paths in rural areas.
What bike lanes have to do with DEI is unclear. Likely this is the Biden administration’s fault for some admittedly political language touting the infrastructure bill’s grants. The Biden team announced they would “consider how projects can address climate change, ensure racial equity, and remove barriers to opportunity.” Which could be seen as lofty goals when many Americans were desperate for pot hole and bridge repairs. But that’s not really the issue here. If the Biden people were for something, then the Trump people must always be against it. This is a ridiculous calculus, counterproductive, and why voters are so sick and tired of our broken political system.
In a maneuver worthy of a North Korea apparatchick, Duffy apparently ordered data showing that bike lanes make driving safer scrubbed from a federal website. Time and again, like the pharaohs of Egypt, the administration will simply excise information that doesn’t fit its agenda. Duffy, the former pro-lumberjack turned MAGA cheerleader, is also leading the charge to rename New York’s Penn Station after Trump, and using access to much needed federal funding for a necessary renovation as leverage to make his case.
Not surprisingly, Duffy and Trump’s hostility extends to high-speed rail or really any kind of investment in public transport. The very successful congestion pricing program in New York City was declared an enemy by the Trump folks — even after data showed 27 million fewer cars entered Manhattan after just one year of the program. After all, if we can’t all be stuck in Midtown traffic while riding in a giant gas-guzzling SUV then what’s really the point of being American?
None of this makes any sense. Surely we can have roadways for our cars and our cyclists. Recently, my childhood best friend was visiting New York and I took him on a Citibike ride around lower Manhattan, on the same city streets where we grew up during the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, biking those streets was the kind of high-risk activity many parents simply wouldn’t allow. Or in our case, they closed their eyes and prayed. There were virtually no bike lanes at the time. For kids, it was extra dangerous because you are smaller and less visible. Speaking of busted infrastructure, I learned to ride on the abandoned elevated West Side Highway, dodging broken bottles, garbage, and much worse. On our ride this year, my friend was amazed. Perhaps it was the beauty of riding on a protected path watching a Manhattan sunset along the Hudson River, or maybe he was seeing a city so completely reborn while gliding along on two wheels. Sometimes when you are on a bike, your eye just catches the world passing by differently.
During the early 2000s, it was Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire Republican mayor of the city, who pushed for hundreds of miles of bike paths, making the city infinitely safer for bikers and alleviating pressure on mass transit. It’s one of Bloomberg’s most positive legacies. And yes, there are plenty of cyclists who ride like jerks and don’t obey traffic laws — but we can and should police that just like we do reckless driving. Of course there’s an inherent risk in riding a bike, but dedicated bike lanes make our country safer and better.
Two exceptional but wildly different people have said things about riding a bike that have always stuck with me. Albert Einstein used cycling as a metaphor for existence: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Truer words were never spoken. And basketball legend LeBron James has made the case for biking as an equity engine of sorts, recalling how his first bike changed his life: “[My bike] gave me the freedom to not only get to places, but to access things that otherwise would have been out of reach. Even now, riding a bike makes me feel like a kid again. There’s nothing like feeling the air on your face and that freedom to just ride.”