Trump's great American 'hijack' is flaming out

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. April 1, 2026. Alex BrandonPool via REUTERS

Two-hundred and fifty years after the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, President Donald Trump is attempting to “vulgarize” the meaning of America, turning it into a celebration that is very much unlike the America those same signatories intended, argues Bill Kristol at The Bulwark.

Fortunately, Kristol says, Trump’s “attempt to usurp America’s moment—and meaning—is failing.”

“It’s not just that Trump’s policies fly in the face of the principles of the Declaration, and seek to undermine a government that secures our rights and derives its just powers from the consent of the governed,” Kristol writes. “It’s also that Trump is doing his best to horn in on the celebration, to turn it into his event, not ours, to vulgarize it according to his taste, to personalize it in accord with his narcissism, and to distort its meaning in line with his prejudices.”

Kristol points to the “unseemly” Rededicate 250 celebration on the National Mall earlier this month, a prayer fest focused on Christian nationalism, according to critics.

He also points to the “grotesque 250-foot Trump arch desecrating Arlington National Cemetery,” which Trump said would be dedicated to himself.

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said he plans to introduce legislation to bar the arch from being built.

“Trump is not trying to build this arch to commemorate national heroes, servicemembers who lie in Arlington National Cemetery, or to celebrate freedom,” Beyer said, as The Guardian reported. “He did not dedicate it to the American people or our country’s greatness. Asked who this arch is for, Trump said, simply: ‘me.’”

Kristol also points to the proposed Trump $250 bill that, should it be printed, appears to violate federal law — or would need at least an act of Congress. There’s also the $1.776 billion “slush fund to be dispersed to January 6th insurrectionists,” which a federal judge just temporarily put on hold.

Kristol calls for all those efforts to be blocked by Congress and the judiciary.

The public opposes the triumphal arch, he notes, and even congressional Republicans don’t appear interested in repealing the law that would need to be changed to allow a live person’s face on the nation’s currency.

“Trump may succeed in pulling off individual events and even projects, for now. But his attempted hijacking of the meaning of America is failing,” says Kristol. Americans “have reason to be increasingly confident that Trump won’t succeed in using our 250th birthday to corrupt our civic traditions. We have increasing reason to think that the American people aren’t being seduced by his vision of the country.”

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