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America250 vs Freedom 250: What to know about the US’s 250th anniversary
Washington, DC – There are fisticuffs on the White House lawn, soon to be followed by a high-speed race through the National Mall. What is going on in Washington, DC?
The United States capital has been transformed in honour of the country’s 250th anniversary.
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Events all around the country are planned to mark two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The nationwide bash has been dubbed the “semiquincentennial” — meaning half of 500 — and not just because Congress loves long words. The US has a history of throwing itself a party every 50 years.
But US President Donald Trump has promised a particularly noteworthy event this year, though the proceedings have been marred by a cavalcade of controversies.
Here’s what to know:
What is the history of US semicentennial celebrations?
The first 50-year anniversary, in 1826, was a considerably more muted affair than the festivities to come.
At the time, some of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were still alive, so the mayor of Washington, DC, invited them to attend the celebration in the capital.
Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both demurred, citing their failing health. They died within hours of each other on the day of the semicentennial.
Fifty years later, in 1876, the US would mark its 100th anniversary by hosting its first world’s fair, an exhibition featuring displays of art, culture and technology from around the globe.
The fair was held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the original document was put on temporary display in the city.
Another world’s fair arrived in Philadelphia for the country’s 150th anniversary in 1926, but it was not nearly as successful. Variety magazine called it “America’s greatest flop”.
Meanwhile, the modern template for having a yearlong, cross-country celebration was set on the 200th anniversary in 1976.
A train-mounted museum of documents and historical artefacts toured the lower 48 states for 21 months. Volunteers, meanwhile, used covered wagons to travel the width of the country.
The celebrations were generally received positively, although the sale of souvenirs — from umbrella hats to mugs — earned it the pejorative “the buy-centennial”.
What is happening this year?
While the US capital may be the centre of this year’s celebration, there will be a multitude of events across the country. They include:
- UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn on June 14
- the Great American State Fair, featuring booths representing all 50 states, presented on the National Mall from June 25 to July 10
- the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will see IndyCars race around capital monuments from August 22 to 23
- the World Cup Fan Zone in Washington, DC, from June 11 to July 16
- a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3
- concerts and exhibitions in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Boston
Mobile museums, known as Freedom Trucks, will also be travelling around the country.
Another initiative is America’s Block Party, an effort to encourage communities to engage in charitable works and host their own semiquincentennial parties.
So far, however, there appears to be no government programme in the works to tackle the holiday’s most vexing and far-reaching problem: how to make the traditional July 4 potato salad less bland.
What is the controversy over the UFC fight?
One of the most scrutinised events in the semiquincentennial calendar is UFC Freedom 250, which will take place on the White House lawn on Sunday.
The timing of the event is one of the details that have wiggled eyebrows. Sunday is a holiday known as Flag Day, but it also marks Trump’s 80th birthday.
The event is also being staged by one of Trump’s most prominent political donors: Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
White has described Sunday’s event as designed “to tell the story of America”. There will be two title fights: a lightweight bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje and a heavyweight interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, as well as several smaller “undercard” matches.
Despite bearing the title “Freedom 250”, the UFC event is not being organised by the White House task force of the same name.
A Freedom 250 spokesperson clarified that the presidential group “has not been responsible for the operations, logistics or funding of the UFC White House event”.
That point has been central to ongoing debates about whether the fight represents a conflict of interest for Trump, who holds stock in UFC’s parent company.
On Friday, a federal judge rejected an emergency petition to stop the fight, on the premise that Trump was using government property to promote his private business interests.
White has told the ESPN sport broadcaster that his organisation was paying for the event.
What is the difference between Freedom 250 and America250?
There are two government-backed nonprofits organising festivities for the anniversary: Freedom 250 and America250.
The former is part of a White House task force, and the latter is a bipartisan organisation created in 2016 by the US Congress.
America250 was set up in 2016 to “plan and orchestrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence”, and it is led by private citizens.
The Freedom 250, meanwhile, is a public-private partnership within the National Parks Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Park Service, a federal agency.
It is ostensibly the public-facing side of the White House Task Force 250, which Trump established in 2025 “to plan, organize, and execute” the semiquincentennial. Trump is also the task force’s chair.
What is each side organising?
The two groups’ event-planning philosophies do not overlap much.
Freedom 250 focuses mostly on big, marquee functions, such as the IndyCar race, the World Cup Fan Zone and Sail4th 250, which will see an armada of tall ships and military vessels travel to US cities along the Atlantic coast.
The America250 organisation has been more focused on community participation through initiatives such as America’s Block Party and its Giving 4th programme, which aims to boost charitable giving on the July 4 holiday.
So Freedom 250 and America250 are not stepping on each other’s toes?
Not really, and they’re ostensibly playing nice, with America250’s chairwoman, Rosie Rios, lauding Freedom 250 as a way to advance presidential initiatives to “give the American people more ways they can celebrate America’s 250th birthday”.
But this is Washington, DC, so some elbows are being thrown.
The creation of White House Task Force 250 was widely viewed as a manoeuvre by Trump to seize control of the celebrations, outside of congressional oversight.
The launch of Freedom 250 came just two months after the appointee Trump picked to lead America250, Ari Abergel, was fired for “serious and repeated breaches” of his authority. Abergel has denied overstepping his mandate.
Who is financing the two groups?
Neither the congressionally created America250 nor the White House’s Freedom 250 are required to disclose its private donors.
But critics point out there are fewer guardrails with Freedom 250 than with America250.
America250’s parent commission is required to submit an annual report to Congress detailing funding and spending.
Freedom 250, meanwhile, lists some “sponsors” and “partners” online, but it is not subject to any independent oversight. That lack of transparency has been a recurring complaint.
In February, The New York Times reported that Freedom 250 was offering access to a reception hosted by Trump in exchange for large donations.
But the newspaper USA Today also pointed out that America250 offered packages that included invitations to events where government officials would be in attendance.
Both groups have been given taxpayer dollars. Congress appropriated $150m to the Department of the Interior for the celebrations, but it did not specify how the money was to be split between the groups.
The Interior Department allocated $100m to Freedom 250 (via the National Park Foundation) and $50m to America250, raising concerns that Trump was steering public funds away from the congressionally mandated organisation.
Critics have also questioned whether the Freedom 250 events are designed to celebrate US independence or promote Trump and his priorities.
Nearly $10m, for instance, went to supporting the Freedom Trucks, whose exhibits have been criticised for offering a whitewashed portrait of US history.
Has there been a backlash to Freedom 250?
The perception that Freedom 250 is a Trump organisation, rather than a nonpartisan one, has created snags for one of its tentpole events: the Great American State Fair.
Almost as soon as its musical lineup was announced in May, artists started dropping out. Several performers said they felt misled by the organisers’ claims that the event is nonpartisan.
Several state governments have also declined to take part, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.
A spokesperson for Oregon said in part that the fair “is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented”.
But Freedom 250 has maintained that the fair will continue with all 50 states represented on the National Mall.
Trump, meanwhile, cancelled the concert, replacing it with a “Rally to end all Rallies”, at which he will give a speech. Country musician Lee Greenwood and tenor Christopher Macchio, as well as several military bands, will also be included in the lineup.
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An island-wide blackout plunged Cuba into darkness Monday as the country’s deepening energy crisis continues to strain its fragile power system.
The outage affected roughly 10 million people before limited electricity service was restored in some areas.
“A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring,” Cuba’s state-run Electric Union said Monday morning. “The causes are being investigated.”
Cuba has faced increasingly frequent power outages in recent years as the country struggles with chronic fuel shortages and deteriorating electrical grids. The crisis worsened when President Donald Trump imposed additional sanctions in January and threatened tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island.
MILLIONS LOSE POWER ACROSS CUBA AS TRUMP SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO FUEL ONGOING ENERGY CRISIS
People walk on the street during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, July 6, 2026. (Ramon Espinosa)
During Monday’s blackout, public transportation was largely halted, and officials said tens of thousands of surgeries were canceled nationwide, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Authorities later said one generating unit had resumed operations roughly two hours after the collapse.
“Microsystems are already operational throughout the country, to ensure protection for vital services,” the Electric Union said.
RUSSIAN ‘DARK FLEET’ TANKER BELIEVED TO BE DELIVERING OIL TO CUBA, DETECTED OFF US COAST AMID TRUMP BAN
A child walks with a bottle of oil past a solar panel set up on the street to charge batteries during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, July 6, 2026. (Ramon Espinosa)
The energy minister said officials were working to restore power while accusing the U.S. of contributing to Cuba’s energy struggles.
“Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face,” Vicente de la O Levy said.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel also blamed U.S. policies, describing the energy blockade as a “genocidal” measure imposed by Washington.
“While the U.S. tries to induce a social explosion through asphyxiation by blocking fuel access to #Cuba, the UNE mobilizes to reverse the SEN outage,” Díaz-Canel said, referring to Cuba’s National Electric Power System.
“What the electrical workers are doing in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade is heroic.”
A woman with her son signals a car on a dark street during a blackout in Bauta municipality, Artemisa province, Cuba, on March 18, 2024. (YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Cuba’s energy crisis intensified earlier this year after a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and halted Venezuelan oil exports, cutting off a key source of fuel for the island.
While Cuba produces only about 40% of the fuel it needs, a Russian tanker delivered roughly 730,000 barrels of oil to the country in March, supplies that were depleted by the end of April, according to The AP.
To conserve fuel, the Cuban government has imposed scheduled power outages that have lasted more than 24 consecutive hours in some areas, the outlet said.
A blackout in early March affected Cuba’s western provinces, while a separate outage in mid-March plunged the entire island into darkness.
People in Cuba already faced an ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, largely due to a US blockade.
Published On 7 Jul 2026
Cuba has suffered its third nationwide power blackout since the start of the year, as the country’s fuel reserves diminish and its electric grid crumbles due to an energy crisis precipitated by the US fuel blockade.
The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported on Monday by the state-run Electric Union, which said that the cause is under investigation.
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Cuba’s Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said protocols were quickly activated to restore electricity throughout Cuba after the outage.
“Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face,” he said.
Grid operator UNE said it was providing electricity to some vital services, including hospitals and food production centres, but by late afternoon was able to serve only 1 percent of the capital, Havana’s, demand.
Cuba was already struggling with fuel supplies before US President Donald Trump cut off oil deliveries from Venezuela to the island in January. But Trump’s actions, including threatening tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba, have made things significantly worse, and deepened the island’s financial crisis. As a result, blackouts and power cuts have accelerated.
Since January, Washington has only allowed one oil tanker, from Russia, to pass its blockade and dock in Cuba, as part of a sanctions campaign aimed at ending more than six decades of communist government in Havana.
Trump has pointed to the US abduction of Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, in January, and his replacement with a successor that can be pressured to work with the US, as a potential blueprint for Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply”.
“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on social media.
The blackout is the eighth on the island of 9.6 million people since late 2024. It comes as the state imposes power cuts across the country – over 30 hours straight in parts of Havana and over 70 hours in some rural areas – in a desperate attempt to preserve fuel.
“Living like this is agony,” Meyboll Font, a 51-year-old self-employed social media community manager, told the AFP news agency.
Font said her Havana neighbourhood has been surviving on just “three or four hours of power a day”, but that the blackout was worse because “you never know when it [electricity] will return”.
MADRID (AP) — A large wildfire in the south of France prompted Tour de France organizers to ban fans on Monday from attending the finale of the third stage of the cycling showpiece race.
After a couple of days in Spain, the race entered France with a stage to the Pyrenees town of Les Angles, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from a fire that has burned almost 1,821 hectares (4,500 acres) of land.
Tour de France organizers said the large wildfire currently in the Pyrénées-Orientales required a large mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and other government agencies.
“The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control,” authorities said.
As a result, organizers decided that once the peloton reaches France for the last 40 kilometers (25 miles), the publicity caravan — a 10-kilometer (6-mile) procession of sponsor vehicles that precedes the race — would not be able to operate.
Only riders and vehicles essential to the race would be allowed on the route, and spectators were asked not to gather on the roadside or at the finish area.
Stage 3 started from the Spanish town of Granollers, where temperatures reached around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), race organizers said, quoting the Spanish Meteorological Agency.
Nearly 700 firefighters were battling the blaze, which led authorities on Sunday night to order the evacuation of more than two dozen villages.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heatwaves across Europe.
Scores of wildfires break out in Greece
In Greece, 96 wildfires had broken out over the past 48 hours, the country’s government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Monday. The vast majority were quickly brought under control before they could spread, he said.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, especially in southeastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.
The most significant fire broke out Sunday afternoon in the Mandra area west of the capital, Athens. Authorities deployed 29 aircraft and more than 200 firefighters in a race to tame the blaze before nightfall, when firefighting planes can no longer operate. By Monday, the fire had abated, although it had not been fully extinguished.
Several parts of the country were listed as being at a high or very high risk of wildfires on Monday due to strong winds. One wildfire that broke out in the southern island of Crete triggered evacuation orders for a village near the town of Ierapetra. The blaze, which was burning through mainly agricultural land, was being fanned by strong winds, the fire department said.
Another heatwave in Spain and Portugal
In the Iberian Peninsula, another surge in heat spread across Spain and Portugal, where hundreds of firefighters were also working to contain wildfires.
Spain’s weather agency AEMET warned that a heatwave that began Sunday would endure at least until Thursday, bringing elevated daytime and nighttime temperatures. Across much of Spain, including the capital Madrid, daytime highs were expected to range between 37 C and 42 C (99 F and 108 F) on Monday and Tuesday.
Overnight conditions were also forecast to be uncomfortably hot, with temperatures easily exceeding 20 C (68 F) — which scientists refer to as ‘tropical nights’. This means people might not be recovering properly from daytime heat in the overnight hours.
In Portugal, inland locations saw temperatures soar Monday, while coastal Lisbon also baked under temperatures reaching 33 C (91 F). Temperatures were expected to drop later in the week.
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Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report
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