Trump launches year-long America250 campaign ahead of US 250th Independence anniversary

US President Donald Trump has launched a yearlong nationwide campaign to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence with the White House promising a series of patriotic celebrations restoration of national landmarks and renewed investment in historic sites as the United States begins marking a milestone in its democratic historyInterior Secretary Doug Burgum whose department is overseeing much of the federal effort said the celebrations held over the Independence Day weekend marked only the beginning of what the administration envisions as a yearlong observance leading up to Americas 250th birthdayWe had an incredible celebration and this is the kickoff of a celebration year Burgum said in separate interviews with CNNs State of the Union and ABCs This WeekThe campaign combines patriotic events with an ambitious programme to restore monuments memorials and public spaces across the nations capital an initiative Trump has repeatedly described as essential to honouring Americas heritageBurgum said the administration had already restored dozens of monuments and fountains while removing extensive graffiti from federal propertyUnder President Trumps leadership Washington DC we fixed 48 monuments 22 fountains that hadnt had water going for years eliminated over 1000 graffiti sites he said Everybody that lives in Washington DC says the place has never looked betterThe Interior Secretary said the administrations objective was to make the capital safe and beautiful before welcoming visitors for the America250 commemorationsHe described the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as part of a broader effort to preserve national landmarks saying the pool had been leaking approximately 45000 gallons of water daily before repairs beganThe Reflecting Pool was part of the original design of the Lincoln Memorial Burgum said Its part of one of the monuments that is important to us as a countryThe renovation has drawn criticism after sections of the newly installed liner were damaged prompting the Justice Department to pursue vandalism charges against one individual Burgum rejected suggestions that the restoration had failed maintaining that the major structural problems had been resolvedThe Reflecting Pool has been a big success he said adding that the remaining damage represented only a tiny fraction of the overall project and would be repaired quicklyBeyond Washington Burgum said the administration intends to expand restoration efforts to national parks and public lands across the countryHe pointed to the Great American Outdoors Act as an opportunity to address longstanding maintenance backlogs at federal parks and historic sitesWe do have deferred maintenance across our national parks he said We can get after restoring things on our national parks across the countryBurgum also defended the administrations emphasis on patriotic celebration arguing that the anniversary should unite Americans around the nations founding ideals despite political differencesWe can be an exceptional nation because our ideals are exceptional he said What we saw this week is people unifying around our country unifying around the flagReflecting on the Independence Day celebrations he praised Trumps speeches for focusing on both the countrys history and its futurePresident Trump showed incredible respect for the past gratitude for the present and then he gave inspiration for the future Burgum said The vast majority of Americans care deeply about this country they care about their communities they care about their familiesThe America250 initiative is one of the signature domestic projects of Trumps second term Federal agencies together with state governments museums historical institutions and civic organisations are expected to host commemorative events throughout the coming year before the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July 2027This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever