A Trump-linked political group asked those seeking tickets to consent to getting donation requests, then dropped it after USA TODAY asked questionsShow Caption
WASHINGTON – Americans seeking free tickets to the kickoff celebration for the nation’s 250th birthday on the National Mall were asked to consent to receiving requests for donations to an organization affiliated with President Donald Trump, according to online registration portals reviewed by USA TODAY.The June 24 event was billed as "America is Back," the official opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, an event sponsored by Freedom 250, the Trump-aligned organization running a series of public-private events revolving around America's 250th birthday."This is the opening moment you will not want to miss," the website said. "Admission is free; RSVP is encouraged."The RSVP page for the event directed attendees to sign up through a Trump-branded registration site, 45.donaldjtrump.com. And it required them to provide their email addresses and asked for their cellphone numbers, according to screenshots of the registration forms taken by USA TODAY.The nighttime event featured military bands and Air Force planes flying overhead, and a campaign-style speech by Trump attacking Democrats and praising his own accomplishments.It was the first in a series of celebratory Freedom 250 events, all featuring appearances by Trump, include a July 3 pre-Independence Day speech and celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, an Aug. 23 Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race in Washington and past events including a UFC Freedom 250 cage-fighting event June 14.Those events already have faced criticism that Trump and his allies have transformed what was initially intended to be a bipartisan and non-political commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary – led by a group established by Congress – into a politically branded event closely aligned with the president.But collecting personal data from event attendees, obtaining their consent to receive fundraising requests – and sending them to a Trump-linked fundraising site – raises additional concerns about whether Trump and his allies might use Freedom 250 events for partisan gain, legal experts told USA TODAY.“It is deeply concerning that attendees are being forced to share personal data that then is almost certainly being monetized for partisan ends,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen.Cellphone numbers and email addresses are among the most valuable assets in modern political campaigns because they allow organizations to contact supporters directly with fundraising appeals, volunteer requests and voter mobilization messages at little cost.That's why campaign finance and ethics experts say questions about who collects, controls and uses those lists matter, particularly when Freedom 250 events take place on federal property using taxpayer-supported resources.“Information capture must be voluntary and well-understood,” Gilbert told USA TODAY, “and as unsavory as it is that Trump is turning our nation’s birthday into a GOP-only celebration, it adds a layer to forcibly capture data and wrap it into the MAGA fundraising machine.”Organizers of the Freedom 250 events say the RSVP data is only being used to provide attendees with a better customer experience.After USA TODAY asked for comment about whether registrants for the kickoff event were unknowingly supporting fundraising efforts linked to the president, a spokesperson for Freedom 250 said organizers removed the language and that it had been included by mistake.“We were made aware that some standard vendor-provided consent language related to opting in for SMS (text) messages referenced fundraising in parts of the registration flow,” said Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner. “That language does not reflect how the SMS messaging system is actually used, which is limited to event logistics and communications, and we quickly corrected it.”Tony Irish, a former associate solicitor for general law at the Interior Department who left government in 2025, told USA TODAY that the effort to capture Americans’ personal data is concerning, especially since the Freedom 250 events are using considerable U.S. government civilian and military resources to put them on.That includes the use of the National Mall, which is administered by Interior’s National Park Service. Irish describes it as “America’s Town Square.”“Any use of government money, time or resources to fundraise or influence elections is unlawful,” said Irish, who is now senior counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which supports current and former public employees who seek a higher standard of ethics and integrity within their agencies.Reisner, the Freedom 250 spokesperson, said the organization is simply gathering the information to provide better customer service to those attending the events, and is not selling or sharing it with any other Trump-affiliated entities.Asked why those registering for the June 24 kickoff event had to use the "45.donaldjtrump.com" site, Reisner on July 1 blamed that on a vendor who "used a link shortener when they send out texts through their system. ... The vendor is not hosting any of the Freedom 250 events."Reisner didn't specify to USA TODAY who that vendor was. But the link led straight to the website of Winred.com, which describes itself on its website that is the "official fundraising technology to help Republicans win."Freedom 250 is a limited liability company created by the National Park Foundation at the request of the National Park Service to help it "execute events, activities, and celebrations in or around national parks to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary." And while the foundation describes itself as nonpartisan, its board now includes some top Trump political aides including Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Irish, the former Interior Department counsel, told USA TODAY that Freedom 250's efforts to collect that data is "alarm bell ringing" and potentially illegal depending on what it does with the information.“Influencing people to collect that information and click that box and provide it to a partisan fundraising outlet seems violative of both the law for the people who are doing it and the rights of the individuals who are just coming to celebrate America and its 250th anniversary.”A 45.donaldjtrump.com link on the America's birthday kickoff siteOn June 24, when a USA TODAY reporter went to Freedom 250's website for information about that night's kickoff event, it encouraged attendees to get free tickets by providing their email address and an optional cellphone number. Featured prominently on the registration pop-up was an "opt-in" box in which the prospective attendee gives "consent to join a recurring SMS/MMS text messaging program that will provide alerts, donation requests" and other information.And despite saying that providing a cellphone number was "optional" to sign up via the opt-in box, it was not, as this USA TODAY screenshot shows.Registration and data collection for all Freedom 250 events is being handled by Campaign Nucleus, a political technology company founded by Brad Parscale, who led Trump’s digital campaign operation in 2016 and served as the president’s 2020 campaign manager.And in the case of the June 24 kickoff, the Freedom 250 website encouraged potential attendees to click on a "45.donaldjtrump.com" link, which leads to another website hosted by the Republican political fundraising firm WinRed -- and a "NeverSurrender Inc." donation page. Trump is the 45th and 47th U.S. president.That WinRed site currently, as of July 7, asks potential donors to give as much as $5,000 apiece to help Trump "complete the MAGA agenda!""I AM PRESIDENT TRUMP — BUT I NEED ALL THE SUPPORT I CAN GET TO KEEP THE MAGA MOVEMENT’S MOMENTUM STRONG THROUGH THE MIDTERMS AND BEYOND!" the website says, featuring photos of the president and places to enter credit card information and information to join Trump's "MAGA Mid-Term Roster."Link to a Trump site 'was removed'Reisner of Freedom 250 did not comment about who was behind the ''45.donaldjtrump.com" site or why Freedom 250 included the link to it. She also did not say when the donation consent request was taken down or whether it had been included when registering people for other Freedom 250 events being held to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Continental Congress’s signing of the Declaration of Independence from Britain in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.Danielle Alvarez, another former Trump campaign official who is now communications director for Freedom 250, told USA TODAY that the organization seeks to capture emails and cell phone numbers from event attendees through RSVPs so they can “receive important Freedom 250 updates, including logistical guidance and other time-sensitive information for guests.""We discovered that certain vendor-provided language for text message opt-ins referenced fundraising and was removed," Alvarez said in an email, "because our system and data is not used for political or fundraising purposes.”Freedom 250 also sought to distance itself from Parscale's firm, saying in a statement that Campaign Nucleus "is a software provider serving a wide range of clients across multiple industries.""Data collected for Freedom 250 is used solely for Freedom 250 event communications and is not retained for or used by any political entity," it said in the statement. "No Freedom 250 data or email lists are accessible by or provided to any other client of Campaign Nucleus, including campaign or political organizations or PACs."On June 30, people seeking free tickets to attend two other events on the National Mall – the July 4 "Salute to America Celebration & Fireworks" and the "Great American State Fair" – were still required to provide their email address to register.But now the Freedom 250 websites say it’s optional to provide a cellphone number to receive texts about the events. And while the “opt-in” box no longer includes language about consenting to receive donation requests, it tells registrants that they are consenting “to join a recurring SMS/MMS text messaging program that will provide alerts, updates, and other important information.”“Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt-out at any time,” the opt-in box on the registration websites for the two Freedom 250 events says. “SMS information is not rented, sold, or shared.”Campaign Nucleus did not respond to requests for comment about why it asked for consent to send registrants requests for donations, or for what it was using the personal information collected by Freedom 250 event registrants. The White House referred USA TODAY to Freedom 250 for questions about the kickoff event and the organization's broader activities.A public-private partnership to coordinate 250th birthday celebrationsIn 2016, the nonpartisan U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission − informally known as America250 − was established and appointed by House and Senate leadership from both parties. It bills itself as the only national nonpartisan organization charged by Congress to lead the 250th anniversary commemoration and to plan events at the local, state, national and international levels.Its leadership includes 16 private citizens, four members of the House of Representatives, four senators and 12 ex-officio members representing all three branches of the federal government and its independent agencies. It's credo, Chair Rosie Rios says on the site, is, "No politics, just purpose."America250 has been doing events for years leading up to the July 4 semiquincentennial, such as a series of "America’s Block Party" events across the country with live music and offering student field trips to historic landmarks.Trump launched a Task Force 250 initiative shortly after taking office to help lead national celebrations surrounding America's 250th birthday, and Freedom 250 was established to coordinate those events alongside federal agencies. While Freedom 250 has described itself as "singularly focused on celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and bringing Americans together around this historic milestone," many of its marquee events have been closely tied to Trump and his administration.Public Citizen, the watchdog group, reported June 11 that Freedom 250 has received at least $79 million in federal funds, including $10 million for its “Freedom Trucks” initiative, which promotes administration priorities.The July 4 event, billed as the largest fireworks display in U.S. history, will also feature a speech by Trump on the National Mall and military flybys, just like the June 24 kickoff event.Meanwhile, America250 has been almost entirely cut out of the official celebrations of America’s semiquincentennial birthday, according to a March 3 letter from 12 Democratic senators to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.Trump's Interior Department – which also oversees the Mount Rushmore National Memorial – has increasingly favored Freedom 250 programming, the senators said in their letter to Burgum “seeking transparency” about the funding.The senators wrote that they wanted to know why Interior might have "redirected" up to $100 million in taxpayer funds “intended by Congress to fund civics education, volunteering initiatives, and restore historical monuments" to Freedom 250 instead, describing it as “a private entity operating separately from the congressionally appropriated commission established to plan a nonpartisan, civic-focused commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.”They cited public reports indicated that the Interior Department had directed staff to use the Freedom 250 logo, colors, and tagline “for all new materials, websites, social media and event collateral related to the 250th anniversary,” and that it sought “to align all semiquincentennial programming with the Administration’s politicized messaging rather than the bipartisan commission established by Congress.”In an interim report released July 2, the Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee said that the "White House first attempted to bend America250 to its purposes, demanding spectacles focused on promoting President Trump rather than the country while forcing partisan content, campaign-style fundraisers, and favored contractors onto an organization Congress designed to serve the whole country, not one party or president.""When America250 would not yield, the White House created a replacement: Freedom 250 LLC, a shadow organization capable of infiltrating the celebrations and injecting America’s 250th with Trump’s extreme, partisan agenda," the report said. "Lodged within the National Park Foundation, the new entity could exploit the credibility and donor relationships of a beloved public charity while operating outside the transparency and accountability requirements Congress wrote into the semiquincentennial framework."In response, Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez shared a statement with USA TODAY that read, in part, "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."White House says it created Freedom 250 to 'achieve this ambitious vision'The White House and Freedom 250 did not respond immediately to USA TODAY requests for comment on the new House Democrats' report.The White House says on its website that it “is engaging all levels of government, the private sector, non-profit and educational institutions, and every citizen across the country to celebrate this historic milestone” of America’s 250th birthday.“To achieve this ambitious vision,” the website says, “we have created a new public-private partnership called Freedom 250.”The New York Times reported Feb. 2 that Freedom 250 traded access to Trump for donations that range from $1 million to nearly $10 million. Meredith O’Rourke, the president’s top fundraiser, is amassing private donations for Freedom 250 via a solicitation offering “bespoke packages” for donors, according to a copy of the document the Times said it obtained. Those who give $1 million or more will get invitations to a “private Freedom 250 thank you reception” hosted by Trump and a “historic photo opportunity” with the president, the Times said. Those who give $2.5 million or more, it reported, also are being offered speaking roles at an event in Washington on July 4. Those interested in signing up for the July 3 event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, which will include a Trump speech, are asked via a giant pop-up box to submit their personal information to "join the Freedom 250 movement and help advance the greatest journey in human history."
