Trump Turned Washington, D.C. Into Race Track for America’s 250th Birthday

Trump Turned Washington, D.C. Into Race Track for America’s 250th Birthday

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix turned downtown Washington into a race track Sunday, part of a year of Trump events marking America’s 250th birthday. Drivers navigated a course around the city’s iconic monuments, and city crews welded more than 200 maintenance hole covers shut so the cars wouldn’t suck them off the road.

Air Force One sweeps over Washington, D.C. in a pre-race flyover before the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on August 23, 2026. Photo by Aaron Schwartz / Reuters.

Trump and Melania kicked things off with a slow lap in a small motorcade as a Marine Corps band played “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Air Force One, the Qatar-gifted jet escorted by four fighter jets, flew overhead during his lap.

Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy wave checkered flags from an elevated NTT IndyCar Series starter's stand under a partly cloudy sky.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel Campos-Duffy wave checkered flags from the starter’s stand at the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23, 2026. Photo by Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty Images.

“I’m going to make a little circle in a nice, secure car, slightly slower than the ones we’re going to witness, but we’re going to have fun,” Trump told Fox before the ride.

Fans watching IndyCar drivers practice for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C.
Spectators line the course as IndyCar drivers take to the track during practice for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 22, 2026. Photo by Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters.

IndyCar series owner Roger Penske, a longtime friend who got the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2019, helped bring the race to the capital after chasing it for 20 years. UFC CEO Dana White, who staged a fight on the White House lawn in June, joined Trump in his viewing box.

Trump’s other 250th-birthday events have included that UFC bout, military flyovers, a July Fourth fireworks show on the National Mall and a Great American State Fair he headlined after scores of ’90s-era acts dropped out.

Wonder if this is hurting sales for tickets at the baseball games.

For more from Thought Catalog, follow along on Facebook or visit our website anytime.