Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that if elected he will make it a priority to plan the “most spectacular” birthday bash for the United States ahead of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
Trump, 76, unveiled his six-point plan for celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial and the 2024 Republican presidential candidate is proposing a year-long blowout to mark the milestone.
In a video posted on Truth Social, Trump explained that July 4, 2026 will mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“As a nation we should be preparing for a most spectacular birthday party. We want to make it the best of all time. Here is my plan to give America’s founding in 1776 the incredible anniversary it truly deserves,” Trump declared Wednesday.
“On day one, I will convene a White House task force called ‘Salute to America 250.’ It will be responsible for coordinating with state and local governments to ensure not just one day of celebration, but an entire year of festivities across the nation starting on Memorial Day 2025 and continuing through July 4 2026,” he announced.
The former president added that he will work with all 50 state governors to create “The Great American State Fair,” a one-year exhibition that he hopes can be hosted at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and says will feature “pavilions from all 50 states.”
“The Great American State Fair will showcase the glory of every state in the union. Promote pride in our history. And put forth innovative visions for America’s future,” Trump said of the proposed event.
Trump added that as part of the festivities, the country “will host major sporting contests for high school athletes,” dubbing the tournament the “Patriot Games.”
“These Patriot Games will allow young Americans from every state to show off the best of American skills, sportsmanship and competitive spirit,” the former commander-in-chief said.
Trump also vowed to sign an executive order establishing a “National Garden of American Heroes” – an idea he first put forward in 2020 and 2021 executive orders that went nowhere and were revoked by President Biden.
Trump said the government would commission 100 statues to populate the proposed statuary park “honoring the greatest Americans of all time.”
Some of the luminaries Trump has previously proposed honoring at the park include Muhammad Ali, Walt Disney, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth and Albert Einstein.
The 45th president also said he would “invite the leaders and citizens of nations around the world to visit the United States in honor of our 250th anniversary.”
“It’s going to be great. America’s tourist industry should get ready because we’re gonna have a lot of people coming, it will be a record year,” he claimed.
Finally, Trump promised to ask the country’s “great religious communities to pray for our nation and our people as we prepare for this momentous occasion.”
“From the very beginning, America has been a country sustained and strengthened by prayer and by our communities of faith, as we charted the course toward the next 250 years. Let us come together and rededicate ourselves as one nation, under God,” Trump said at the end of his ambitious proposal.