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Author: Sam Janesch

  • Chips, a Christmas tree, and the Liberty Bell: Here’s what’s inside Pennsylvania’s new showcase at the Great American State Fair

    Chips, a Christmas tree, and the Liberty Bell: Here’s what’s inside Pennsylvania’s new showcase at the Great American State Fair

    WASHINGTON — A replica Liberty Bell, a Knoebels amusement park bench, hundreds of bags of potato chips, and dozens of sweating tourists packed into Pennsylvania’s location at President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair on Tuesday — a stark turnaround from when the signature 250th anniversary event opened in Washington last week without a Keystone State presence.

    Pennsylvania was one of the few Democratic-led states that — describing the two-week fair as too partisan — had either decided not to participate or failed to find another host to showcase local history and memorabilia.

    The interest, Gov. Josh Shapiro said at the time, was just not there.

    But after a weekend-long sprint initiated by U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) and John Fetterman (D., Pa.) to dredge up that interest, Pennsylvania’s pavilion opened Tuesday with nearly every inch of the space filled.

    The walls were covered by antique flags and signs lent by York County’s Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques. Children stood in line for a U.S. Steel penny-press machine, grabbed bags of Middleswarth chips made in Snyder County, and Crayola crayons from Easton. (Additional chip donations from Utz and Martin’s will be arriving soon.)

    Tourists collected pamphlets about Gettysburg and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. They took pictures of anthracite coal and a drill bit used for fracking, both of which were on loan from U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Luzerne).

    Pennsylvania’s pavilion showcases a natural gas drill bit and Middleswarth chips at the Great American State Fair on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

    “I always look for an opportunity to highlight our industry,” Beth Ann Bossio, a Christmas tree farmer from Fayette County, said after driving three and a half hours to drop off a tree to display in the center of the space.

    Pennsylvania is one of the largest producers of Christmas trees, and Bossio said it was important to her that both the state and its farmers were represented at the fair.

    Beth Ann Bossio (front center), a Christmas tree farmer from Fayette County, helps staff from U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office set up a tree she brought for Pennsylvania’s pavilion at the Great American State Fair on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

    “That was my vision to come here, to make sure that Pa. is being reflected of what we are, and what we represent,” she said before tying an American flag-themed bow on the tree. “Farmers are very proud of that. We’re patriotic. We take pride in our land and how we steward it.”

    The packed room on the National Mall came together in a rush in recent days, after Shapiro joined Democratic governors from other states in declining to use state resources to create and staff a pavilion, which his office said would have run a tab of “hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.”

    He also said his administration’s search for another Pennsylvania host came up short. No companies or other kinds of groups were interested, he said, even as businesses and local governments stepped up to fill the spaces in other states.

    While Shapiro last week blamed the lack of interest on the president’s polarizing impact on the 250th celebrations, he said in an interview Tuesday with The Inquirer that it “was never a political exercise. This was an exercise in practicality.”

    Shapiro said Pennsylvania’s pavilion would have cost the state $700,000, all of which was money he saw better spent on the major events happening in Pennsylvania this year, including the NFL Draft, PGA Championship, MLB All-Star Game, the ongoing World Cup games, and a number of events across the state for the nation’s 250th birthday.

    “My focus is on spending the taxpayer dollars here,” he said.

    His administration spent two or three weeks reaching out to businesses and to the Pennsylvania Chamber asking them if they wanted to participate. None of them did, Shapiro said.

    “They obviously had a change of heart at the last minute. That’s fine,” Shapiro said about the revived Pennsylvania pavilion.

    Organizing the booth in Shapiro’s place were the state’s two senators, a bipartisan duo who have often worked together.

    McCormick and Fetterman withheld any direct criticisms of Shapiro while talking about their effort, though Fetterman has clashed with the governor in the past and has also repeatedly broken Democratic ranks to support Republican-led efforts.

    McCormick said he understood Shapiro’s desire not to spend taxpayer money, but when he found out there would be nothing to represent the state that is “the center of America’s history,” he sprang into action.

    The freshman Republican said he and Fetterman spoke Saturday morning and quickly made calls to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and individual businesses to donate time and resources.

    “It’s just inconceivable that we wouldn’t have a booth that would represent all that Pennsylvania had to offer,” said McCormick, whose staff greeted guests at the pavilion all day Tuesday.

    Fetterman, who has said Pennsylvania’s role as a purple state means he should consistently work across the aisle, said he was proud to work with McCormick on the effort.

    “America’s turning 250 years old,” Fetterman said alongside McCormick during an appearance in Philadelphia on Monday. “Can’t we all just celebrate that and not just find new ways to fight about the politics and the dynamic right now?”

    McCormick’s office listed 23 companies or groups that signed up to help, though only a few corporate sponsors were front and center in the space.

    Two large signs showcase the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a natural gas advocacy group that has a significant lobbying presence in Harrisburg. And U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh-based company that benefited from a Trump-approved takeover by a Japanese-owned company last year, offered the penny press and colorful wristbands reading “forging the future.” Hats and signage commemorating Yuengling and Mack Trucks were lent from the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association.

    Tourists use a U.S. Steel penny-press machine on display at Pennsylvania’s pavilion at the Great American State Fair on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
    Pennsylvania’s pavilion showcases state history and memorabilia at the Great American State Fair on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

    Some organizations have acknowledged earlier conversations with Shapiro’s office to participate that didn’t go anywhere.

    A report from The New Republic that Pennsylvania would not be participating in the affair “caught us off guard because that was not our experience at all, nor was it what we had communicated to the [the governor’s] office,” said Jon Anzur, the senior vice president of public affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “It’s unfortunate that it occurred that way.”

    He said the governor’s office approached the chamber less than two weeks out from the start of the fair to help get companies involved.

    “It just seems odd that we were approached at the eleventh hour and now it sounds like the governor’s office is trying to point fingers when there was ample time to get ducks in a row,” he said.

    The Hershey Co. is among the Pennsylvania-based companies that declined to participate.

    “We were asked by Gov. Shapiro’s office in mid June and then again over the weekend by Sen. McCormick’s office,” said Todd Scott, a spokesperson for the chocolate business.

    Both were told that the size of the ask and the limited amount of time to make it happen was not possible.

    “We were asked so late in the game that logistically we couldn’t make that happen. We just cannot provide on a moment’s notice that amount of product that they would have been asking for,” he said.

    But the summer weather was also a factor.

    “There’s no refrigeration on the mall, and with extreme heat, chocolate doesn’t do well in 100-degree temperatures,” he said. “We always want to make sure that people have the best experience with our products that they can.”

    But another candy company, Asher’s Chocolate Co. in Souderton, decided to join.

    “Asher’s was asked to participate by the Chamber of Commerce [Monday] and agreed to donate prepackaged bite-size pieces of fudge, which were on hand,” said David Neff, who represents Asher’s. “Asher’s is deeply committed to America and celebrating America’s 250.”

    Bob Asher, a longtime influential GOP leader in Southeastern Pennsylvania from Montgomery County, was previously involved with the company but he has no remaining financial interests, Neff said. Asher donated thousands of dollars to Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Shapiro’s Republican opponent for governor, and is her honorary campaign chair.

    Other Philadelphia-area companies are also financially supporting Trump’s effort.

    SAP, the German business-software giant whose U.S. headquarters and 2,000 staff are in Newtown Square, Delaware County, donated $5.6 million to Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative.

    “SAP is committed to the communities where our customers, employees, and partners live and work. SAP’s support of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations reflects our long‑standing commitment to supporting innovation, economic strength, and workforce development,“ SAP spokesperson Bridget Carroll said in a statement.

    SAP software is used by the U.S. military and its NATO allies to track troop deployments, military supply chains, and equipment maintenance.

    The military aircraft producer Lockheed Martin, which has engineering centers in King of Prussia and in Moorestown, N.J., is the top donor to Trump’s initiative, giving nearly $20 million.

    This story has been updated to clarify Bob Asher’s role in Asher’s Chocolate Co.

    Staff writer Joseph N. DiStefano contributed to this article.

    This story was updated to clarify that Bob Asher is no longer involved in Asher’s Chocolate Co.

  • John Fetterman says he will open Trump Accounts for his kids, urges others to do the same during rare Philadelphia appearance

    John Fetterman says he will open Trump Accounts for his kids, urges others to do the same during rare Philadelphia appearance

    In a rare public appearance in Philadelphia, Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman joined Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick at a youth basketball camp in Nicetown on Monday to promote Trump Accounts, the new federally backed savings accounts for kids that became law with the president’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

    Fetterman — who did not vote for the GOP-led initiative last year but has more frequently supported President Donald Trump’s policies since then — said he was urging families in deeply Democratic Philadelphia to look past Trump’s name on the program.

    “Do not fall into that political trap,” Fetterman said. “This isn’t some radical thing. … Do this for your child.”

    The accounts, which launch on July 4, are available to children under 18 — with children born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2028 receiving $1,000 in seed money.

    All accounts will also receive $250 because of a $6.25 billion donation from tech CEO Michael Dell and wife Susan Dell. Families, businesses, and nonprofits can add up to $5,000 annually. A portion of the funds may be accessed when the child turns 18, with the rest transferred into an IRA retirement account.

    “Who is excited about getting $200? Put your hands up,” McCormick asked more than 100 kids gathered on one of the indoor courts at Philadelphia Youth Basketball’s summer camp, at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center in Nicetown.

    Both McCormick and Fetterman appealed directly to the children during speeches between basketball camp drills.

    Despite being 6-foot-8 and palming a basketball as he posed for pictures, Fetterman said his basketball skills weren’t “worth much.” But he told the kids that he was there because he wanted them all to be millionaires someday. And the Trump accounts — which he said he and his wife, Gisele, would open for all three of their children — were a step in that direction.

    U.S. Senator John Fetterman palms a basketball Monday, June 29, 2026 as he appears with fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick to promote the savings accounts for kids that were a signature piece of President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.

    “I am begging your parents to get involved in this,” Fetterman said. “It’s about all of your futures.”

    In a joint interview after the event, the senators described the initiative as a groundbreaking effort to build long-term wealth for individuals who don’t typically have access to it.

    “This is one of many things that we need to do to think about how we address a fundamental problem — which is, we have a growing concentration of wealth in our country,” said McCormick, a former investment firm CEO and millionaire many times over.

    “He was talking almost like a Democrat … a concentration of wealth,” Fetterman quipped, prompting McCormick to laugh.

    The accounts were established as part of Trump’s most significant legislation of his second term, which narrowly passed Congress last year.

    Fetterman, at the time, joined other Democrats by calling the bill a “disaster” for its cuts to Medicaid spending and other programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

    After voting against the law — or voting “hell no,” as he said at the time — Fetterman has broken with his party to support Trump and Republicans in a number of high-profile moments, and in ways that have deeply frustrated Democratic voters. His appearances at public events in Philadelphia and around Pennsylvania have been extremely rare, and many political observers question whether he will seek re-election in 2028.

    At the same time, Fetterman has developed a close working relationship with McCormick, a Republican elected in 2024. The pair frequently partner on issues in Washington and stress the need for bipartisanship, particularly in a purple state like Pennsylvania.

    “He and I are in this together,” McCormick, who has stopped in Philadelphia frequently, including for meals with Democratic Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, told the crowd Monday.

    Philadelphia Youth Basketball CEO Kenny Holdsman said he had worked with both senators and credited a conversation he had with Fetterman for helping push the organization to keep its doors open for longer hours as safe haven for the 2,400 young people in its programs.

    Holdsman said the Trump Accounts would “really help young people and their families in a big way” — from the financial security that comes with a compounding investment account, to the educational and financial literacy aspect that will come with kids having access to their savings.

    Invest America founder Brad Gerstner, who had pushed for the idea behind Trump Accounts for years and now leads the nonprofit that manages the initiative, showed the children a screenshot of the app that will display the contents of each account.

    “We want kids across the country, when they’re in middle school, to be able to open up this on their phone, so it’s not some abstract notion that I have money. This is the way the teachers in public schools are going to be able to teach them about ownership, compounding, financial literacy, et cetera,” Gerstner said. “It’s hard to teach kids about money when they don’t have any money.”

    Bipartisan groups have said the Trump Accounts do not have the same kind of tax-advantaged structure as other investment accounts, such as 529 plans that are specifically used for education. Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, has also criticized the $1,000 contributions for children born in the years around the program’s founding and called the overall plan “a government welfare program rather than a tax-neutral investment vehicle.”

    Fetterman said he supported 529s but the Trump Accounts were a “much more versatile vehicle” for investing in children’s futures. McCormick said the program’s ability to accept philanthropic donations made it particularly appealing as other individuals and corporations can buoy the accounts on top of families’ investments. Both also stressed convenience.

    “You’re going to share in the prosperity of America,” McCormick said. “It’s easy. You don’t have to overthink it.”

    Sen. Fetterman pauses to fist bump a youngster on his way to the more than 100 children attending a summer basketball day camp at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center.
  • Partisanship, divisive Trump presidency hang over 250th celebrations in Philadelphia and Washington

    Partisanship, divisive Trump presidency hang over 250th celebrations in Philadelphia and Washington

    WASHINGTON — Fifty years ago this week, President Gerald Ford’s helicopter arrived at Valley Forge in a dense fog.

    After a speech to 15,000 people, he designated the Revolutionary War landmark as a national park before heading to Philadelphia, where an estimated crowd of 1 million gathered outside Independence Hall. Ford spoke soberly, recounting the story of a nation that, on its 200th birthday, should find confidence in its ability to both celebrate its founding ideals and ask “hard questions” in the pursuit of something better.

    “The American adventure,” Ford said on July 4, 1976, “is a continuing process.”

    Philadelphia’s 250th anniversary celebrations this week are set to feature no appearances from the president. No reflections on self-improvement from the commander-in-chief at the birthplace of American democracy, no luncheons with the Philadelphia mayor near City Hall, as Ford also did after his speech.

    President Donald Trump has said he will instead use the occasion to throw “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY” on the National Mall — one of several ways the president’s critics have said he has injected partisanship and self-serving events into what should be a unifying moment.

    Trump’s stamp on “America 250” has been clear.

    A UFC fight on the White House lawn branded as “Freedom 250” overlapped with the president’s 80th birthday and featured adulations directed at him. The Great American State Fair, which some Democratic-led states declined to participate in, opened last week with a campaign-style speech in which the president railed against DEI and transgender athletes. It also featured the U.S. Marine Band playing the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” a Trump campaign rally staple. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, using an offensive term that combines liberal with a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, said the band was better than the “libtards” who canceled their performances because of concerns over Trump’s partisan behavior.

    “This is really, more than anything else, an opportunity to attempt to bring us all together as Americans. That’s what past celebrations have done,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat whose district includes Independence Hall. “It’s just so tragic that for this anniversary, the president we have is Donald Trump, someone who is completely not capable of doing any sort of national unity-type event.”

    Historic Interpreter, Lane Norris, as Alexander Hamilton, speaks with tourists outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

    Boyle worked for years to arrange a ceremonial gathering of Congress at Independence Hall for the 250th, which is set for Thursday. Though not officially a joint session outside of Washington — which has only occurred two other times since the capital relocated from Philadelphia — the event will mark the moment on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt a resolution for independence.

    The commemorative moment “just gives me chills to think about it,” said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Delaware County Democrat who represents part of Philadelphia and plans to attend Thursday. Scanlon said she was hopeful the event will be bipartisan at a time when the president’s divisiveness was “taking an edge off the celebratory aspect” of the 250th.

    Both Scanlon and Boyle described the president’s lack of plans to mark the moment in Philadelphia as disappointing. The White House did not respond to questions for this article, including whether it made any attempts to plan an event with the president in the city.

    “I always just kind of assumed that the president of the United States would, at some point in the days leading up to the Fourth of July or even on Fourth of July itself, be in Philadelphia,” Boyle said. “But obviously this president has different priorities.”

    Injecting polarization into apolitical events

    Matthew Levendusky, a University of Pennsylvania political science professor who has studied how July Fourth celebrations affect sentiments about national identity and polarization, said previous presidents participated in “patriotic, but not political,” events like concerts, fireworks, and parades.

    Trump has taken a distinctly different path since his first term, Levendusky said, noting the military parade in 2019 and a speech at Mount Rushmore in 2020 when, after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, he used the moment to criticize the removal of monuments that symbolized racial oppression.

    The 250th events are an example of how Trump, a “conflict entrepreneur,” makes such events more political at a time when American society has already become more partisan, Levendusky said.

    “There’s more debate over the meaning of American identity than there was a decade or 15 years ago — in part because there’s been more polarization,” said Levendusky, the director of Penn’s Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “But he’s also done things that inject polarization into that process.”

    President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, UFC president and CEO Dana White, and other guests pose inside the octagon after UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2026, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/Pool Photo via AP)

    Those actions appear to have affected how voters feel about America’s democracy 250 years in — at least among Philadelphia’s largely Democratic electorate.

    According to a new Suffolk University/Philadelphia Inquirer poll that surveyed 500 city residents, 70% of Philadelphians believe Trump’s presidency has made them feel less confident in the country’s democracy. The answers were strongly correlated to political party, with more Republicans than Democrats saying that Trump’s presidency made them feel more confident in democracy or that it made no difference.

    Tourists flocking to the city have reflected those ideological divides but also a bipartisan desire to set politics aside for a historic milestone.

    “We’re all Americans, I don’t care who the president is,” said Greg Sage, 55, a Republican from Michigan who voted for Trump and toured the city’s historic sites this month. “I try not to politicize it, you know? But I believe we’ve been around 250 years. Maybe we’ll make another 250.”

    Phyllis Ahnberg, 68, a Democrat from California, said that it was “empowering” to visit Philadelphia’s sites and that she would not let one person or administration change how she celebrated a moment for unity. Still, it was hard to ignore Trump’s impact during a recent trip to Washington.

    “We were up at [the] Washington Monument, and we were looking, and it was disgusting to see the White House and this, like, fight thing,” Ahnberg said, referencing the towering structure built to host the UFC fight on June 14. “And to see the East Wing torn down … I mean, it was disgusting. Nobody hired this man to do that.”

    U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking Republican and a close Trump ally, attended the fight and posted on social media that it was an “incredible evening” that honored “the strength, resilience and spirit of the American people.” His office did not grant a request for an interview for this article.

    Pennsylvania’s empty booth at the Great American State Fair on Thursday in Washington. On Saturday, Sens. David McCormick (R., Pa.) and John Fetterman (D., Pa.) announced that they had secured private-industry sponsors for the booth at no cost to taxpayers.

    A debate over past and future America

    Other Republicans on Capitol Hill have defended Trump’s role in the anniversary while using the moment to say they believe left-leaning Democrats are the primary threat to America’s democracy.

    “We are in a fight right now to save the republic, and every American needs to take this seriously. You need to wake up,” an animated House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said at a news conference last week after three insurgent candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won competitive congressional primaries.

    “Are we going to maintain our status as a constitutional republic on our 250th anniversary?” Johnson continued. “Or are we going to make a new choice and go down some road toward a communist utopia?”

    Chris Rabb, who won Philadelphia’s competitive primary in May to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia) next year, endorsed two of the candidates Johnson criticized and is likely to join them in the most progressive bloc in Congress next year.

    A democratic socialist and state legislator, Rabb has been adamant about what he sees as a need for “radical” change. After speaking at an event titled “The Next American Revolution: Breaking Oligarchy and Making a New Democracy” in Washington last week, he said in an interview that Trump’s presidency has in some ways been a “valuable distraction.”

    Instead of celebrating the anniversary in traditional — or what Rabb called “milquetoast” — ways, Trump is creating an opportunity for more critical, nuanced discussions about American identity and history, he said.

    It is a particularly meaningful opportunity for him personally. A longtime family genealogist, Rabb has spoken often about his heritage as the descendant of both a signer of the Declaration of Independence — the slave-owning Philip Livingston — and Black abolitionists.

    “I am an embodiment of the hypocrisy and the complexity of choices and systems that have never really been addressed … [and] that are very similar to what we had 250 years ago,” Rabb said. “Unless and until we have a real public, ongoing, and substantive conversation, it will be more of the same.”

    Staff writer Andrea Padilla contributed to this article.

  • No sign of Pennsylvania at Trump’s 250th fair as state fails to find companies to participate

    No sign of Pennsylvania at Trump’s 250th fair as state fails to find companies to participate

    WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania is not participating in President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair, which kicked off Wednesday, after state leaders failed to find a company willing to represent it at one of the hallmark 250th anniversary events in Washington that some say have become overly partisan.

    Pennsylvania’s state government, like those in some other Democratic-led states, had already chosen to not sponsor a booth at the 16-day fair. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office had still been trying to connect Freedom 250, the nonprofit behind the fair, with organizations and companies that could represent the state, according to federal and state sources familiar with the planning.

    “Unfortunately, due to the high cost to taxpayers and not being able to secure PA businesses to sponsor the booth, Pennsylvania will not be a participant in the Great American State Fair,” the Pennsylvania Department of Economic and Community Development said in a statement.

    The fair, being held at the National Mall to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, was originally planned to feature a pavilion dedicated to each state and territory.

    But as tourists visited Thursday on the fair’s first full day, there were no signs of the commonwealth where American democracy was born 250 years ago.

    Almost every other state was showcased — with most sending state or local government staff and tourism boards to host educational or interactive exhibits.

    Cape May County, a Republican stronghold that is representing New Jersey after the state government declined to participate, featured an 8-ton sand sculpture that a sculptor from Wildwood took 4½ days to create.

    An 8-ton sand sculpture promotes Cape May at New Jersey’s pavilion at the Great American State Fair, in Washington, D.C. The pavilion was sponsored by Cape May County, a Republican stronghold that chose to represent New Jersey after the state government declined to participate.

    Maryland’s state tourism department handed out information about its vacation hot spots. Staff in the Lone Star State’s pavilion greeted tourists with a cheerful “Welcome to Texas” and offered an interactive space flight exhibit, a replica of the Alamo, and an Austin City Limits music display.

    Delaware highlighted Founding Father Caesar Rodney’s ride to cast the decisive vote for independence in Philadelphia.

    Delaware’s pavilion at The Great American State Fair highlights Caesar Rodney’s ride to cast the deciding vote for independence.

    Pennsylvania joined seven other Democratic-led states — Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington — in declining to participate.

    Some of those states had flags outside the pavilions where they would have been located. A few chairs and a sign with the state’s name were also inside.

    But in the booth where, according to an interactive map, Pennsylvania’s location was supposed to be, a flag reading just “250″ was outside and the room was blocked off for the fair’s staff.

    As recently as this month, Pennsylvania was still seeking companies to represent it, but Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s spokesperson, confirmed Thursday that the state had given up that effort.

    “None were interested,” Shapiro said to the New Republic in a story that first reported Pennsylvania’s lack of participation. “It reflects this sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in — that the president has politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate.”

    Trump’s presence has increasingly hung over events tied to the 250th anniversary in the nation’s capital, with the president planning to hold a political rally on the Fourth of July as part of the long-planned fireworks celebrations. It has made the decision to participate by entertainers and states alike more politically fraught.

    “Freedom 250 is a nonpartisan organization, full stop — and our track record of collaboration across red, blue, and purple states speaks for itself,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner said in a statement earlier this month. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday about Pennsylvania’s lack of involvement or Shapiro’s comments.

    Cape May represents New Jersey at the Great American State Fair Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

    In New Jersey’s pavilion, visitors were met with not just the sand sculpture but also a new three-minute video highlighting Cape May County and a giant image of George Washington lounging at the beach with a cold drink.

    County administrator Kevin Lare said it took a significant amount of work — and at least $150,000 from the county’s tourism budget — to pull it all together in recent weeks. It is worth it, he said, to highlight the county in the hopes of bolstering its largest economic engine — tourism.

    “It’s a once-in-a-250-year event,” Lare said. “It’s not something the county will do every year at this level. It’s a celebration of our country, and our board of commissioners still believe we live in the greatest nation in the world. They’re happy to be a part of it.”

    Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.

  • A new bipartisan housing law was on track to bring Pennsylvania’s home-repair program nationwide. Then Trump refused to sign the bill.

    A new bipartisan housing law was on track to bring Pennsylvania’s home-repair program nationwide. Then Trump refused to sign the bill.

    WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania program that assists homeowners and small landlords by financing repairs was on track Wednesday to expand nationwide, after Congress this week passed a bill that both Republicans and Democrats are celebrating as the first major federal housing law in decades.

    Tucked into the 374-page omnibus legislation is a pilot version of a federally backed Whole-Home Repairs program — an idea that was originally sponsored by State Sen. Nikil Saval (D., Philadelphia) and passed in Pennsylvania in 2022.

    The program offers grants or loans to address safety, habitability, and efficiency concerns.

    But despite wide bipartisan support for the program and dozens of other housing reforms in the larger bill, final approval was derailed on Wednesday when President Donald Trump canceled the bill-signing ceremony in an attempt to force Congress to first pass more restrictive voter-ID laws.

    Democrats and some Republicans quickly rebuked the president, who still made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans. The intraparty meeting turned contentious, according to multiple reports, while Democrats noted they had enough votes to overturn Trump’s veto if he holds out long enough.

    “It’s a mess,” said U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.). “Finally, we’re doing something that the American people want. We got bipartisanship. We worked on it forever. … Then he just parachutes in and just blows it all up here at the end.”

    The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to incentivize housing construction, restrict large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, improve financial literacy, and more.

    More than a year in the making, it includes a separate stand-alone Whole-Home Repairs Act that U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) had introduced in each of the last two sessions of Congress. Fetterman’s bill merged last year into the larger bill while keeping many of the same provisions as the Pennsylvania-level program.

    Households that earn less than 80% of the area median income are eligible for grants, while small landlords with affordable units can access loans, including forgivable loans.

    Funded with more than $120 million in COVID-era federal stimulus money, the program has been limited amid high demand, with as many as 18,000 homes on the waiting list.

    Saval said he expects the national version to also reflect that level of “immense demand” — particularly as the program starts small and as homeowners across the country face higher costs to maintain their residences.

    “This is a huge issue. There are some 200,000 homes in Pennsylvania alone that have moderate to severe deficiencies,” Saval said. “Everyone is dealing with rising energy costs. Everyone’s dealing with the cost of materials and labor and the inability to pay for all that.”

    Addressing those kinds of affordability concerns, which have become a top-of-mind political issue during this year’s high-stakes midterm elections, is a rare bipartisan effort to emerge from the U.S. Capitol.

    Philadelphia-area lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had spent months advocating for the bill.

    U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D., Del.) — members of the Senate committee that advanced the legislation — both celebrated the final passage by talking about its impacts on affordability and “cutting red tape.” Kim called it a “historic” move to bring costs down.

    “This package comes at a critical moment,” Blunt Rochester said in a statement, noting a nationwide housing shortage of as many as 7 million units. Five bills she separately sponsored — to accelerate building, increase investment in community development projects, develop zoning and land-use policies, and more — were featured in the final law.

    The Whole-Home Repairs provision of the legislation was not a guarantee as negotiations developed over the last year. House Republicans were generally skeptical of creating a new government program, and specifically critical of the policy’s tenant protections, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. But their counterparts in the Senate, and Democrats in both chambers, helped keep it in the larger bill.

    Fetterman said in a statement that Whole-Home Repairs “ensures families can stay in their homes” and that passing it had been a priority since he entered the Senate in 2023.

    “I’ve consistently maintained that our housing crisis needs real solutions that help address the problems at the center,” Fetterman said.

    Saval, who said he made multiple trips to Capitol Hill to work with sponsors and lobby for Whole-Home Repairs, said he was “thrilled” by the inclusion of a program that he and the coalition of advocates who helped push the idea had always envisioned as a model that could be replicated.

    He said he expects the pilot program to prove successful in “a few states” where it is able to launch. Unlike previous version of the federal bill that would have allocated $30 million to the pilot, there is no specific funding number for Whole-Home Repairs in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

    The legislation calls for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to identify between two and 10 “implementing organizations” every year during the pilot, which is set to run through October 2031. The organizations will be local or state governments that administer the programs.

    Saval said that no matter how much funding is allocated, it “will undoubtedly fall short of the need,” but that its effectiveness will spur further investment.

    “It repays itself,” Saval said. “It repays itself in stabilized communities. It repays itself in stabilized property values, in people remaining in their homes rather than in unsafe or unhealthy homes, or rather than abandoning them.”

    Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.

  • Trump to visit Pa. on Tuesday as the battle for control of Congress heats up in the Lehigh Valley

    Trump to visit Pa. on Tuesday as the battle for control of Congress heats up in the Lehigh Valley

    President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak Tuesday at a truck manufacturing facility in the Lehigh Valley, where a competitive race for Congress this year could determine which party controls the U.S. House for the second half of his term.

    Trump will deliver remarks at Mack Trucks in Macungie in Lehigh County, according to the White House and two local members of Congress.

    The visit will mark Trump’s fourth Pennsylvania appearance in his second term and his first this year ahead of November’s high-stakes midterm elections.

    Pennsylvania has four competitive U.S. House districts — the most of any state — and the Lehigh Valley-based 7th District is widely considered one of the most likely in the nation to flip from Republican to Democrat.

    GOP U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie won that seat by 1 percentage point in 2024 as Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris statewide. Bob Brooks, a union leader and retired firefighter whom many prominent Democrats rallied behind before last month’s competitive primary, is facing Mackenzie in November.

    The event Tuesday is scheduled as an official White House event, not a campaign event, and it could be the first of several trips by the president to the region and across Pennsylvania in the coming months.

    “We’re looking forward to joining President Trump at Mack Trucks — one of our nation’s most iconic manufacturers,” Mackenzie wrote on social media.

    “By investing in American workers and supporting domestic manufacturing, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have helped to put the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos at the forefront of our nation’s industrial revitalization. We appreciate President Trump coming to the region to help us highlight the work we’ve done together to support American workers, families, and industries.”

    Mackenzie spoke Friday at a different Mack facility outside of Allentown to highlight part of a contract the company won from the U.S. Army last year to produce heavy dump trucks. The deal is worth up to $221.8 million, and Mack Defense said it received $47 million in the latest Department of Defense appropriations act.

    A White House spokesperson said Trump will “stand with the American workers he has fought for” during his visit.

    “Under the President’s leadership, key domestic industries are being revitalized, historic investments are pouring back into communities like Macungie, and families across the country are securing new, high-paying jobs,” Liz Huston said. “Pennsylvanians placed their trust in President Trump, and he has delivered for them.”

    Former President Joe Biden visited the same Mack facility in 2021 for a speech focused on supporting American manufacturing.

    Trump last appeared in Pennsylvania in December for a rally at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, which is in the neighboring 8th Congressional District where another freshman Republican is looking to fend off a Democratic challenger. Pitched as a speech to address voters’ concerns about affordability, the president repeatedly veered off script and called affordability concerns a “hoax.”

    Some of the president’s former supporters in the region have since said they regretted voting for him, and national Democrats have made the area a priority as they look to win back a seat that Mackenzie flipped two years ago. Brooks, the Democratic nominee, has leaned into his working-class background while saying he understands voters’ financial concerns.

    U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican who represents a different neighboring district, said Trump’s visit signals the president’s support for workers.

    “Mack Trucks are a symbol of America’s manufacturing strength,” Meuser said on social media. “Their Lehigh Valley operations are a pillar of the local economy, employing Pennsylvania workers and driving the nation’s trucking industry. Thank you, President Trump, for supporting American workers.”

  • Rep. Madeleine Dean visits Philadelphia ICE facility as fight over DHS funding drags on

    Rep. Madeleine Dean visits Philadelphia ICE facility as fight over DHS funding drags on

    As Congress spends a two-week break no closer to a compromise on Homeland Security funding, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean visited the federal detention facility in Center City Tuesday to do some research on the agency at the center of the fight.

    ICE agents have been paid throughout the 46-day shutdown, but most other employees of agencies overseen by the the Department of Homeland Security have gone without pay for the duration.

    But Dean (D., Montgomery) discovered Tuesday that the pay disparity also existed within ICE itself.

    “What I learned there is something I did not fully understand. We all know about TSA not getting paid. But did you know the support staff (for ICE and other agencies) has not been paid?” Dean said.

    “The support staff is often the backbone of any organization and it’s just completely unthinkable, unconscionable — I think it should be illegal — that these folks are not being paid.”

    The four-term lawmaker’s visit came more than six weeks into the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and just days after Congress left Washington for a two-week break without a solution.

    Democrats have remained steadfast in opposing any new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement without reforms to the agency’s tactics, following two fatal shootings of civilians in Minneapolis by federal agents in January.

    Many Republicans have bristled at Democrats’ proposals to ban masking by agents and other reforms. And House GOP leaders have refused to consider a larger DHS budget without the ICE funding.

    Dean said her trip to the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, which she said had 52 immigrant detainees Tuesday morning, was designed for her to learn both about the shutdown’s impacts and the operations of a facility that only began holding immigrants in ICE custody last year.

    She said the pay disparity — support staff not being paid while law enforcement officers continue to be paid to do enforcement work — struck her as unfair, particularly with funding available through President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and after Trump authorized payment for Transportation Security Administration workers.

    Trump approved the TSA payments last week as unpaid employees increasingly called out of work, disrupting airport operations and leading to ICE agents being deployed to pick up some of their duties.

    Dean said the decisions made about who to pay and not pay, along with House Republicans’ move last week to reject a compromise plan proposed by the Senate, were “an utter failure to govern.”

    Spokespeople for DHS and ICE did not respond to questions from the Inquirer about which types of federal employees are receiving paychecks during the budget impasse.

    While the Trump administration has occasionally blocked members of Congress — including two from Pennsylvania last year — from entering ICE detention facilities, Dean said she did not have a problem getting access on Tuesday. However, she criticized the current policy that requires a week’s notice.

    Democratic lawmakers have fought in court against the advance-notice policies. The policies have been used, for instance, to block lawmakers looking to visit a facility in Minneapolis after an ICE officer killed U.S. citizen Renee Good, sparking a wave of public backlash. The arrest of nine religious leaders protesting the Philadelphia detention center on Monday was part of a series of protests after the events in Minneapolis.

    “We should have been able to walk right in,” Dean said after giving notice for her Tuesday visit. “We have a responsibility as the appropriators to take a look at these places without any prior approval.”

    Dean described the staff at the Philadelphia facility as cooperative even as they did not answer all of her questions, and declined to let her speak with any of the immigrants who were detained there Tuesday morning.

    The questions she said she entered with — about how long the detainees had been there, and if they had criminal records beyond their immigration status — were left unanswered.

    Dean said she also did not get clarity on how many came from her district, which covers most of Montgomery County and part of Berks County, or about the circumstances around the death of a detainee in January. That detainee, 46-year-old Parady La, was a Cambodian immigrant who ICE said was treated for drug withdrawal and died after being transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

    La’s family and groups including the ACLU of Pennsylvania have sought more information. Dean said Tuesday she was unable to learn anything more after speaking with the staff.

    Dean described the conditions at the facility, which also still operates as a federal jail, as “heavy-duty, serious prison” — similar but also different from a much larger detention facility in Texas that she visited earlier in March.

    The facility in Dilley, Texas, holds up to 2,400 people, and Dean has highlighted it as a cautionary exhibit of what could be coming if the Trump administration succeeds in its plans to turn two warehouses — in Berks and Schuylkill counties — into similarly large detention facilities.

    “It was incredibly inhumane and grotesque,” Dean said. “We saw children whose medical needs were being neglected.”

    Dean said she spoke to several detainees who had severe medical issues. An educational area set up for the detained children also appeared to be unused, she said.

    “It was an absolute sham, a joke,” she said. “I’ll do everything in my power to get these centers shut down.”