Trump orders up IndyCar race for DC streets near National Mall as part of ‘Freedom 250’ celebration
President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to clear the way for one of his longtime friends and political donors to put on an automobile race in the streets of Washington, D.C. as part of his administration’s push for splashy, high-profile events around the country’s semiquincentennial celebration.
The president signed an executive order on Friday directing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “take steps to ensure that all permits, approvals, and other authorizations as are necessary to plan, prepare for, and conduct” what will be called the “Freedom 250 Grand Prix” race in August and to do so “as expeditiously as possible.”
It further directs them to work with Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser to establish the race course and make further arrangements for the contest, which will be held on roads surrounding the National Mall in downtown Washington in order to showcase “the majesty of D.C. and its iconic national monuments.”
Speaking in the Oval Office during a brief ceremony to sign the order, Trump said the event would be put on by the IndyCar racing series owned by Roger Penske, a billionaire Republican donor to whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.
Penske thanked Trump for hosting him at the White House and said it was “a really amazing time” for his company to support the country’s 250th anniversary.
“And there’s no better way for us to bring automotive and speed into the DC area and to have the opportunity to be able to compete here with our Indy cars,” he said.
Penske added that the event would be produced in part by Fox Sports, part of the Fox Corporation owned by close Trump ally Rupert Murdoch.
Fox is also a co-owner of the Indycar Series having purchased a minority stake from Penske last July.
Washington, D.C. last hosted an auto race more than two decades ago, when the 2002 American LeMans Series held the Grand Prix of Washington on a course set around the disused Robert F. Kennedy Stadium and surrounding parking lots.
It was meant to be a regular event at the time but the city did not renew permission for a similar race the following year because of complaints about noise from residents in the area.
This year’s event will be part of the Freedom250 initiative, a Trump administration aligned project to bring flashy and large events to Washington as part of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.
Freedom250 was established pursuant to a Trump executive order creating a White House task force on the semiquincentennial celebration as the task force’s funding arm.
It is separate from the bipartisan U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission established during the Obama administration by an act of Congress. Trump has largely eschewed working with that bipartisan body in favor of the White House task force, which is stacked with loyalists.
The Freedom250 effort is also funding an Ultimate Fighting Championship event that will be held on the White House lawn this coming June 14 — a date that is both Flag Day and Trump’s 80th birthday.
