John,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not just the US Postal Service that President Trump is hijacking to boost his re-election campaign—it’s the National Park Service, too.
Look no further than Trump’s speech last week during the Republican National Convention. He gave the speech from White House grounds, followed by a fireworks show on the National Mall facilitated by the National Park Service, putting on a spectacle no other candidate could compete with. That’s why using the impressive backdrop of the White House to elevate a campaign—on the taxpayer dime—is not only corrupt, but antidemocratic.
Trump’s corruption of the park service even extends into the creation of outright propaganda, which appears to be an illegal use of taxpayer funds.
Trump’s use of national parks and federal lands as partisan props is not new. It all started with his notorious tank-filled Fourth of July celebration in 2019 on the National Mall, which was subsidized by the park service. Trump was pleased enough with the event that he brought it back this summer, despite the pandemic.
As the election has gotten closer, the National Park Service has fallen victim to more and more of Trump’s corrupt whims. Trump wanted to be interviewed from inside the Lincoln Memorial, so the park service changed its rules. Then Trump wanted fireworks at Mount Rushmore, despite wildfire risk, so the agency changed its rules again. Read more on CREW’s website, and then share the news with your friends and family.
Adding to our concerns, it appears that all of the help that the park service has extended has not gone unnoticed by Trump, who just donated his quarterly salary to the agency. CREW is investigating the donation and whether it was in any way linked to these NPS actions, as well as the costs of Trump’s fireworks spectacle during the RNC.
No agency within the federal government should be allowed to act like a wing of the Trump campaign. Not the US Postal Service, and not the National Park Service. It is clear that Trump will stop at nothing in his attempts to stay in power, which is why we are sounding the alarm. Help us get the word out by sharing these stories, or by supporting CREW’s work.
Thank you for standing with us,
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
