Staff Reports
On the night of December 31, 2025, Washington, D.C., lit up like a birthday party for the greatest nation on earth as the Washington Monument was transformed into a towering 250-foot birthday candle and a New Year’s countdown to kick off America’s semiquincentennial. The spectacle — part of a six-night projection series and a fireworks finale at midnight — was a bold, unmistakable statement that patriotism will be celebrated loud and proud on the National Mall.
This display was the opening salvo from Freedom 250, the national organization unveiled by President Trump to lead a yearlong America250 celebration, and it makes plain that this administration intends to put American history back at the center of our civic life. Congress authorized the Monument displays and the president signed the authorization into law, showing that reclaiming our heritage had bipartisan infrastructure behind it even as the left flails.
The festivities ran on a clear schedule — projection shows from 7 p.m. nightly and an extended run on New Year’s Eve that culminated in fireworks — and they were free and open to the public so working families could join the celebration without a ticket. Rather than hiding our history or sanitizing it, the projections promised to tell the story of discovery, revolution, and national renewal in a way that reaches millions at once.
Organizers say the Monument will feature themed segments — Discovery, Revolution, Westward Expansion, the Industrial Revolution and the 20th Century, and Modern Day and the Future — each shown in recurring 25-minute cycles so visitors can take in the sweep of our nation’s triumphs. Using imagery from the Library of Congress and the National Archives alongside modern projection mapping, the show aims to inspire pride rather than guilt. That’s the right approach: narrative, not cancel culture.
Make no mistake, this was a political act of cultural restoration. Freedom 250 is unapologetically designed to renew the patriotism that has been under assault by elites who prefer shame to strength, and the Monument display — free to the public and staged right on the Mall — was a direct challenge to those who would tell us to be embarrassed by our past. If the left screams about “politicizing” a monument, remember who politicized the erasure of our heritage in the first place.
Watching millions share this moment should reassure every hardworking American who still believes in country, flag, and faith that there is a leadership willing to celebrate rather than denigrate our past. This administration understands that you don’t build unity by apologizing for America; you build it by celebrating what made this nation exceptional and inviting everyone to be part of the story.
So if you saw the Monument blazing on New Year’s and felt a surge of pride, you’re not alone — and you’re exactly who this was meant for. Stand with this celebration, turn off the cable outrage, bring your family next time, and let the left continue to squawk while America remembers who she is.
