Democrats accuse Trump-linked fundraisers of fraud over diverted
donations for America's anniversary
[July 03, 2026]
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consultants tied to President Donald Trump may have
engaged in financial fraud, tricking donors who wanted to support the
nation’s bipartisan 250th anniversary organizer into sending their money
instead to a rival group set up by his administration, according to a
report released Thursday by House Democrats.
The report draws in part on interviews by Democratic staffers of the
House Committee on Natural Resources. Those interviews suggest that
donors seeking to celebrate America fell for a bait-and-switch that, if
true, could have violated various criminal statutes.
Donors who were intending to contribute funds to America250, a
bipartisan committee created by Congress, were instead given the banking
and routing numbers for a different but similarly named group, Freedom
250, the Democratic report says.
The key difference was that Freedom 250 was set up under the auspices of
Trump's Republican administration to be “a vehicle for a Christian
nationalist, partisan, and Trump-centered vision of American identity,”
according to the report.
Freedom 250, which has denied the report's claims, has focused on
staging big splashy events largely held in Washington, such as the UFC
cage fight at the White House on Trump's 80th birthday, the Great
American State Fair on the National Mall and the upcoming July 4
celebration featuring a Trump speech and a fireworks extravaganza the
president is touting as the “show of a lifetime.”
Freedom 250 calls report ‘partisan smear’
Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez dismissed the Democrats'
report as “categorically false” and a “partisan smear from politicians
who would rather manufacture division” than celebrate a national
milestone.
“Freedom 250 remains fully committed to uniting Americans at this
historic moment and giving all Americans a spectacular birthday they can
be proud of — and we won’t be distracted by those rooting for it to
fail,” said Alvarez, who previously served as a spokesperson for the
Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Democrats allege in the report that this fits a broader pattern in which
Trump hijacked the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, redirecting tens
of millions of dollars in both taxpayer money and private donations to
boost “the President’s ego, political ideology and pet projects.” Much
of the spending was directed to companies connected to Trump’s political
operation, including the event planners for the Trump rally that
immediately preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters
at the U.S. Capitol.
“The American people are the big losers in this,” said Rep. Jared
Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. “I’m
old enough to remember the bicentennial in 1976. No one cared about
party labels or political agendas, religious agendas or anything else.
Donald Trump stole that. He took this unifying America250 moment, and he
made it all about himself.”
The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Report recounts Trump administration effort to control America250
The Democratic report recounts how the Trump administration sought to
control America250, the nonprofit arm of the U.S. Semiquincentennial
Commission established by Congress in 2016 to plan celebrations for this
year’s anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
After the Trump administration faced pushback, Freedom 250 was created
last fall as a limited liability corporation that is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the National Park Foundation, the fundraising arm of the
National Park Service.
Freedom 250’s sole employee appears to be CEO Keith Krach, a wealthy
Trump supporter who served in the State Department during the
president’s first term.
Democrats said this structure enables Freedom 250 to operate as a
“financial black box,” shielded from having to comply with competitive
bidding, accounting and transparency rules that would typically apply to
a federally controlled entity receiving tens of millions of dollars in
taxpayer funds and private donations.
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President Donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train, Wednesday,
July 1, 2026, in Medora, N.D., for the opening of the Theodore
Roosevelt President Library. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Under Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill approved by Congress last
year, $150 million in federal funds was allocated to the Interior
Department for events celebrating the 250th anniversary. America250 was
expecting $100 million of that, though it has received only $25 million,
according to the Democratic report.
Even as a member of a congressional oversight committee, Huffman said
that he has no way to know exactly how much taxpayer money has been
redirected into Freedom 250 by the Trump administration.
Freedom 250 CEO solicited donations from foreign government
officials, Democrats allege
The Democrats alleged Krach, the Freedom 250 CEO, traveled in January to
the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to personally solicit
foreign government officials and business leaders for money to help fund
America’s birthday celebrations. The report says Trump appointees at the
State Department, including some ambassadors, have also held fundraising
events overseas and sent out written solicitations seeking foreign
donations for Freedom 250.
Krach did not respond to an email seeking comment. Alvarez denied the
group accepts foreign donations.
The publicly named sponsors of Freedom 250 include defense contractors,
oil conglomerates and big tech companies that have federal contracts,
that have regulatory issues before federal agencies and in some cases
that Trump has personally invested in. Democrats said the arrangement
creates the appearance of a cozy pay-to-play scheme in which donors to
Trump’s pet projects could get favorable treatment from his
administration.
There has been no public disclosure of how much corporate money has been
raised. Freedom 250 also allows donors to request to remain anonymous,
and the contributions are tax deductible.
Democrats allege donors were pressured to withdraw commitments from
America250
The allegation of potential criminal wrongdoing stems from fundraising
by Meredith O’Rourke, who served as the national finance director for
Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign and as a board member for
the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social media platform.
O’Rourke’s firm, Forward Strategies, initially worked as a contractor
for America250, which coordinated with the White House to organize last
year’s military parade in Washington to coincide with Trump’s 79th
birthday. O’Rourke is also a primary fundraiser for other projects Trump
has championed, including the construction of the White House ballroom,
the planned renovation of the Kennedy Center and the Garden of American
Heroes.
After the creation of Freedom 250 last year, the report alleges,
corporate donors were pressured to withdraw fundraising commitments to
America250 and shift their financial backing to the new Trump-backed
entity.
Democrats say they have also interviewed donors who were misled by
fundraisers, including O’Rourke, into believing they were contributing
to America250 but were given wire transfer instructions that routed
their money to a bank account controlled by Freedom 250 — a ruse the
report says could constitute wire fraud.
O’Rourke did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
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