Donald Trump has been criticized for ruining America’s 250th birthday

Tensions flared afterward Trump appointed Ariel Abergela former Fox News producer, as executive director of America250 in May 2025.

Reginald Browne, a New Jersey businessman on the committee, said Abergel was on a “mission to seek out and destroy their work.”

Browne said: “He was mismanaged by whoever told him to do what he was told. I don’t think it went to the highest level, I think it was somewhere in the middle.”

Freedom 250 was registered in October 2025 and became a shadow organization that raised taxpayer and donor money.

Democrats in Congress claimed that donors who wanted to support America250 were instead given Freedom 250 banking information. Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Freedom 250, called this a “partisan smear” and “categorically false.”

Browne said, “Many companies didn’t know which group to sponsor, or whether the president was okay with giving money to America250.”

He added that the confusion caused “missed opportunities.”