President Trump’s grandiose, tanks/jets/fireworks plan for the National Mall on July 4 will seriously impact visitors to many of the country’s national parks.
The reason, of course, is money.
“The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with President Trump’s Independence Day celebration Thursday on the Mall, according to two individuals familiar with the arrangement,” reports the Washington Post.
Trump will speak to select VIPs and others from the Lincoln Memorial, as the Navy’s Blue Angels soar overhead along with a stealth bomber, one of the jets that serve as Air Force One when the president is aboard, and other military aircraft.
The military theme will continue on the ground with M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other battleground hardware arrayed along the National Mall.
“By tapping entrance fees to cover the presidential event [the Interior Dept.] is siphoning money that is typically used to enhance the visitor experience either on the Mall or at smaller parks across the country, on projects ranging from repairing roads and bridges to habitat restoration,” says the Post.
“Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, said:
“This is beyond the pale. The American people pay these entrance fees to make improvements at our national parks — not to boost President Trump’s campaign. The National Mall is not the place to hold a de facto political rally.”
Trump’s speech this year will be a first in history: presidents have not traditionally participated directly in the nation’s Independence Day celebration — the idea being to mark the event in 1776, not politics of the current time.
The idea of setting aside special access to those deemed VIPs by the Trump White House rankles some knowledgable observers. And despite the event being billed as non-partisan, NBC reports that the RNC has been given tickets, but the DNC has not.
Brendan Fischer, federal reform director for the Campaign Legal Center, told the Post in a phone interview that while it may not violate federal ethics law to distribute limited tickets to the president’s speech to party contributors, “it certainly looks bad.”
“Limiting public access to a public monument on Independence Day in favor of wealthy donors just sends a signal that our political system favors the wealthy and well-connected,” he said.
