'Show of a lifetime' or waste of taxpayer dollars? Trump defends 4th of July extravaganza

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his Fourth of July extravaganza amid growing questions about its expense and concerns that he is politicizing an annual holiday celebration.

In a pair of tweets, Trump dismissed criticism of the event, which will take place Thursday at the Lincoln Memorial and will feature Army tanks, a flyover of military jets and Air Force One, fireworks and a speech by the president himself.

“It will be the show of a lifetime!” he wrote.

But critics denounced the celebration, which the White House is calling a “Salute to America," as a costly and unnecessary spectacle that is injecting politics into what has traditionally been a feel-good, patriotic and decidedly non-political affair.

Trump has said the celebration will honor the nation’s military. But others complained that the event has the over-the-top trappings and feel of a Trump campaign rally.

“President @realDonaldTrump’s ego is so large that he’s holding this Fourth of July campaign rally in a desperate cry for attention, and everyone knows it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of a congressional committee promised an investigation into the use of taxpayer dollars to cover the costs of the event. And a government watchdog group warned that the celebration could potentially violate the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of government resources for political purposes.

“There’s supposed to be a strict line between government activity and campaign activity, and everyone’s a little nervous at this point that (Trump) is going to bust right through that,” said Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit government accountability group.

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Few details on cost

The White House has released few details about the cost of the extravaganza or how the government will pay for it.

But The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to help cover the costs. An aide who was not authorized to speak publicly about the plans told USA TODAY a preliminary estimate for transporting and displaying the military tanks is about $870,000.

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With criticism mounting, Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to defend the celebration.

“The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth,” Trump wrote. “We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats. Nice!”

Earlier, he tweeted that the event “is looking to be really big.”

What critics see, however, is a big political mess.

The nonpartisan National Park Conservation Association slammed the use of national park fees to cover the cost of the celebration.

“Siphoning off desperately needed money from our national parks to pay for a spectacle on our National Mall is both reckless and a breach of the public’s trust," said Theresa Pierno, the group's president and CEO.

The Park Service is already operating "on a shoestring budget," Pierno said, and park staff have come to rely heavily on visitor fees to fund law-enforcement personnel, create educational programs for visitors, and address nearly $12 billion in repairs for crumbling park buildings, trails and roads.

“Independence Day on the National Mall has always been a place to celebrate patriotism and what it means to be an American," Pierno said. "The administration is marring that tradition with its actions, and the repercussions will be felt for a long time to come.”

Congressional Democrats also questioned the use of taxpayer dollars and other government resources for the event.

Trump is "turning the 4th of July into a political spectacle – at the expense of taxpayers and our National Parks," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

More: Tanks, flag burning and the Trump baby balloon: What we know about the July Fourth parade

'Display of pageantry'

Rep. Betty McCollum, who chairs a House appropriations subcommittee that oversees national parks operations, slammed the Interior Department’s diversion of national parks entrance and recreation fees to help pay for the celebration.

“Using National Park entrance fees to pay for this display of pageantry is absolutely outrageous,” said McCollum, D-Minn.

McCollum vowed that she would look into how the decision was made and hold the responsible parties accountable.

“These fees are not a slush fund for this administration to use at will,” she said. “They are meant to improve our national parks, keep them safe and protected for Americans to enjoy, and are clearly not to be used for a political rally.”

Arizona Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the Democratic chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter Wednesday to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt demanding that he clarify how the Trump administration is paying for what he called “a de facto campaign rally at the Lincoln Memorial.”

Concerns that the extravaganza is a political affair have been amplified by the distribution of tickets to president’s political supporters.

The White House said “a small number” of tickets were given to the Republican National Committee for distribution but stressed it was similar in scope and practice to events under Democratic presidents. The Democratic National Committee said it did not receive any tickets to the event, but some Democratic lawmakers said they were offered tickets.

The White House also gave 5,000 tickets to the Defense Department for distribution.

The RNC did not answer questions about how many tickets it received or how they were distributed but argued “this is routine” for other White House events such as Christmas open house receptions or garden tours every spring and fall.

Those events, however, do not take place in a public space like the National Mall, typically do not include an appearance or speech by the president and are not broadcast to millions of Americans around the country.

Trump’s Fourth of July celebration will be carried live on C-SPAN.

Possible Hatch Act violations

Government accountability groups, which will be monitoring the festivities, say there are a number of problems with Trump's Fourth of July celebration that could lead to Hatch Act violations.

While the president himself is not subject to the Hatch Act, others in the executive branch are covered under the law. Government employees who helped set up the event could find themselves in trouble if Trump turns the extravaganza into a campaign event by advocating for his re-election or against any of the Democrats running to replace him, Libowitz said.

Several top-ranking military leaders are expected to attend the event and possibly appear on stage with Trump.

Yet members of the military are governed not only by the Hatch Act but also by Defense Department regulations and guidelines that prohibit them from engaging in political activity, such as attending a political speech or parade while in uniform. They could potentially be in violation of those rules if the festivities become overtly political, Libowitz said.

“It’s really going to come down to what (Trump) says,” Libowitz said.

The tanks: What we know about the tanks in Trump's 'Salute to America' on the Fourth of July

No matter what Trump does or says, he already has upended the annual Independence Day celebration.

Even before the Fourth of July was officially declared a national holiday by Congress in 1870, it was the most important social occasion in the nation and, in a predominantly rural America, brought people together as no other event, said Patrick Maney, a presidential historian at Boston College.

“I can't remember a Fourth in my lifetime when the president was – or tried to be – the center of attention,” he said. “I was in Washington for the bicentennial celebration in 1976 but have no memory of President (Gerald) Ford being part of the action.”

Regardless, the reaction to Trump’s plans are “a little overwrought," Maney said, if for no other reason than "most Americans are likely to go on celebrating the Fourth as they have for most of American history – with their families, friends, and neighbors."

“The tug of tradition is too strong even for President Trump to buck," he said.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Show of a lifetime' or waste of taxpayer dollars? Trump defends 4th of July extravaganza