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Trump Launches Year-Long America250 Campaign
Administration plans nationwide events, monument restoration and historic preservation through July 2027.
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IANS - Mon, 06, Jul 2026
- 03:04 EDT
- 47
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the America250 celebrations will continue through next year. / IANS
US President Donald Trump has launched a year-long nationwide campaign to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, with the White House planning patriotic events, restoration of national landmarks and renewed investment in historic sites ahead of the country's semiquincentennial in July 2027.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department is overseeing much of the federal effort, said the Independence Day weekend celebrations marked the beginning of a year-long observance.
Also read: Trump Says 'America Is Winning' on Independence Day
"We had an incredible celebration, and this is the kickoff of a celebration year," Burgum said in separate interviews on CNN's State of the Union and ABC's This Week.
The campaign combines patriotic events with a program to restore monuments, memorials and public spaces across Washington, D.C., an initiative Trump has repeatedly said is aimed at honoring the nation's heritage.
Burgum said the administration has restored dozens of monuments and fountains while removing graffiti from federal property.
"Under President Trump's leadership, Washington, D.C., we fixed 48 monuments, 22 fountains that hadn't had water going for years, eliminated over 1,000 graffiti sites," he said. "Everybody that lives in Washington, D.C., says the place has never looked better."
He said the administration's goal is to make the nation's capital "safe and beautiful" before welcoming visitors for the America250 commemorations.
Burgum also highlighted work to restore the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying it had been losing about 45,000 gallons of water each day before repairs began.
"The Reflecting Pool was part of the original design of the Lincoln Memorial," he said. "It's part of one of the monuments that is important to us as a country."
The renovation has faced criticism after sections of the new liner were damaged, prompting the Justice Department to pursue vandalism charges against one individual. Burgum rejected suggestions that the project had failed, saying the remaining damage represented only a small portion of the overall restoration and would be repaired.
Beyond Washington, he said the administration plans to expand restoration efforts at national parks and public lands, citing the Great American Outdoors Act as an opportunity to address long-standing maintenance backlogs.
"We do have deferred maintenance across our national parks," Burgum said. "We can get after restoring things on our national parks across the country."
He also defended the administration's emphasis on patriotic celebrations, saying the anniversary should unite Americans around the country's founding ideals despite political differences.
The America250 initiative is one of the signature domestic projects of Trump's second term. Federal agencies, state governments, museums, historical institutions and civic organizations are expected to host commemorative events across the country through July 2027, when the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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