US President Donald Trump has launched a year-long nationwide campaign to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, with the White House promising a series of patriotic celebrations, restoration of national landmarks and renewed investment in historic sites as the United States begins marking a milestone in its democratic history.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department is overseeing much of the federal effort, said the celebrations held over the Independence Day weekend marked only the beginning of what the administration envisions as a year-long observance leading up to America's 250th birthday.
"We had an incredible celebration, and this is the kickoff of a celebration year," Burgum said in separate interviews with CNN's State of the Union and ABC's This Week. The campaign combines patriotic events with an ambitious programme to restore monuments, memorials and public spaces across the nation's capital, an initiative Trump has repeatedly described as essential to honouring America's heritage.
Burgum said the administration had already restored dozens of monuments and fountains while removing extensive graffiti from federal property. "Under President Trump's leadership, Washington, D.C., we fixed 48 monuments, 22 fountains that hadn't had water going for years, eliminated over 1,000 graffiti sites," he said.
"Everybody that lives in Washington, D.C., says the place has never looked better." The Interior Secretary said the administration's objective was to make the capital "safe and beautiful" before welcoming visitors for the America250 commemorations.
He described the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as part of a broader effort to preserve national landmarks, saying the pool had been leaking approximately 45,000 gallons of water daily before repairs began. "The Reflecting Pool was part of the original design of the Lincoln Memorial," Burgum said.
"It's part of one of the monuments that is important to us as a country." The renovation has drawn criticism after sections of the newly installed liner were damaged, prompting the Justice Department to pursue vandalism charges against one individual.
Burgum rejected suggestions that the restoration had failed, maintaining that the major structural problems had been resolved. "The Reflecting Pool has been a big success," he said, adding that the remaining damage represented only a tiny fraction of the overall project and would be repaired quickly.
Beyond Washington, Burgum said the administration intends to expand restoration efforts to national parks and public lands across the country. He pointed to the Great American Outdoors Act as an opportunity to address long-standing maintenance backlogs at federal parks and historic sites.
"We do have deferred maintenance across our national parks," he said. "We can get after restoring things on our national parks across the country." Burgum also defended the administration's emphasis on patriotic celebration, arguing that the anniversary should unite Americans around the nation's founding ideals despite political differences.
"We can be an exceptional nation because our ideals are exceptional," he said. "What we saw this week is people unifying around our country, unifying around the flag." Reflecting on the Independence Day celebrations, he praised Trump's speeches for focusing on both the country's history and its future.
"President Trump... showed incredible respect for the past, gratitude for the present... and then he gave inspiration for the future," Burgum said. "The vast majority of Americans care deeply about this country, they care about their communities, they care about their families."
The America250 initiative is one of the signature domestic projects of Trump's second term. Federal agencies, together with state governments, museums, historical institutions and civic organisations, are expected to host commemorative events throughout the coming year before the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July 2027.