On the eve of the Fourth of July holiday, U.S. President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of his sweeping tax and spending package with a campaign-style event in Iowa, declaring: “There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago.”
The bill, which narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, permanently extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, allocates hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for the Pentagon and border security, cuts back health insurance and food assistance programs, and phases out clean energy tax credits. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.
Trump delivered his remarks at an event in Des Moines billed as the kickoff of a yearlong celebration leading to the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026. However, the tone was more reminiscent of a campaign rally, complete with jabs at political opponents, media criticism, and expansive promises.
After taking the stage in a red “USA” cap, Trump opened with attacks on President Joe Biden, mocking his speaking style and repeating unfounded claims of election fraud. He also took aim at the media, labeling them “fake news,” and claimed, “one-hundred-and-sixty-five days into the Trump administration, America is on a winning streak like, frankly, nobody has ever seen before in the history of the presidency.”
Trump’s legislative victory came under sharp criticism from Democrats, who argue it will disproportionately benefit the wealthy while reducing support for low-income Americans. “Only because they hate Trump. But I hate them too, you know that? I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country,” Trump said.
In a notable policy shift, Trump addressed concerns from agricultural sectors about labor shortages. Referring to his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, he said: “If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” He added, “We don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms,” and said the administration would also coordinate with the hotel industry.
The event marked the formal launch of the semiquincentennial celebrations, which Trump said will include a national state fair, a televised “Patriot Games” for high school athletes led by Robert Kennedy Jr., and even a UFC fight hosted on the White House grounds. “We’re going to have a UFC fight – think of this – on the grounds of the White House,” he announced. “We have a lot of land there. We are going to build a little – we are not, Dana is going to do it … We are going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20-25,000 people, and we are going to do that as part of 250 also.”
Trump also pledged to build a National Garden of America’s Heroes and criticized efforts to remove historical monuments. “They took down a lot of our statues. They took down statues of some of the greatest people that we’ve ever had living. I stopped them from taking down Thomas Jefferson … You could imagine who they were going to put up,” he said.
The location of the event—Des Moines—was described as a “logical choice” for the anniversary launch by Monica Crowley, Trump’s liaison to the America250 organizing group. “Its location in the middle of the country was symbolic of a desire to use the coming celebrations to help bring people together,” she said.
Despite the unity-themed framing, the atmosphere remained polarizing. The crowd of a few thousand supporters, many wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and “Ultra Maga” shirts, waited in over 90-degree heat for Trump’s arrival. Giant TV screens displayed images of the Founding Fathers, and 55 American flags flew over the makeshift arena.
As he touted the bill’s changes to estate tax rules, Trump referred to exploitative bankers as “shylocks,” a term criticized for its antisemitic connotations. The Anti-Defamation League has condemned the word as a harmful stereotype. According to a pool report, Trump later said he was unaware of the term’s history: “I’ve never heard it that way. The meaning of Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. You view it differently. I’ve never heard that.”
While Trump’s remarks and plans for the anniversary drew applause from his base, they highlighted the deepening political divide in the country. A recent Gallup poll found only about one-third of Democrats said they are proud to be American, compared with nearly 90% of Republicans.
With two years until the semiquincentennial, the former president’s vision combines nationalist symbolism with high-profile spectacle. As campaign season accelerates, his legislative push and anniversary promises signal an attempt to fuse governance, patriotism, and political theater into a single narrative of revival.
