…which is expected to cost over $45 million, according to an Army spokeswoman on CNBC.
Big Tech quietly sponsors Trump’s military parade party
According to recent statements from America250, Oracle, Amazon, Coinbase, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir are some of the highest-profile sponsors to the America250 Foundation, the congressionally appointed nonprofit in charge of raising funds to celebrate the upcoming US Semiquincentennial. Although the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence will take place next year — July 4th, 2026 — America250, which is co-chaired by former US Treasury Secretary Rosie Rios and Trump’s former co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita, is handling spectator logistics, as well as a festival, for the controversial military parade taking place this Saturday.
In the weeks leading up to the parade, America250’s website also listed Meta as a top-level sponsor, and a press release on May 22nd mentioned Meta as a sponsor while announcing that four major American automakers — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram — were now partnering with the organization.
America250 also lists corporate sponsors from other areas of Trump’s orbit, including the UFC, owned by prominent ally Dana White; and Phorm Energy, a sub-brand of Anheuser-Busch. The National Football League is also participating in the event, hosting a “Kids Zone” at a pre-parade festival on the National Mall. (According to press releases, the festival will also include a “military demonstration.”) Other corporations include Nextdoor, FedEx, and Scott’s Miracle Gro. Several right wing-coded groups are listed as supporting partners, such as the Bill of Rights Institute and The Jack Miller Center, two research centers that have received money from groups connected to the Koch Brothers.
Palantir has a well-established relationship with the federal government and the Trump administration. Two of its cofounders, Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale, are major supporters of the president, and Palantir was recently tapped to compile a massive database of Americans’ personal information across the federal government.
America250 had faced accusations of corruption long before Trump returned to office, however. In 2022, four former executives filed a lawsuit against America250, claiming that the organization was a “toxic and volatile work environment” engaged in “cronyism, self-dealing, mismanagement of [federal] funds, potentially unlawful contracting practices and wasteful spending.” It resulted in the ouster of its then-chairman, Daniel DiLella, whom the lawsuit claimed had, among other things, been funneling lucrative contracts to personal associates and engaging in sexism against female colleagues.
read more: https://www.theverge.com/policy/685690/big-tech-trump-military-parade-america250
…all these corporations did was exploit our military forces as PR and promotion for their own monyed interests.
Likewise with Trump, who is furthering his own business interests by currying influence behind the office of the presidency; perpetually grifting off of government as our nation’s defenders hawk the weapons, military hardware, and technology corporations have either convinced the government to buy, or are vendors promoting some enterprise that a military manufacturer expects Americans to foot the bill for in the future.
Trump let his fellow grifters glom all over his ridiculous display of military insecurity, and they eagerly reduced our national defense organization from the greatest military in the world to props in a massive retail convention.
Even at that, this commander-in-chief’s own invented vanity fete turned out to be as attended and engaging as an open-air Google I/O developer conference on a tarmac in Duluth.
I’m falling asleep just writing about it…
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