Planning Committee for U.S.' 250th Birthday Fires Director for 'Breach of Trust'

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/us/politics/ari-abergel-fired-trump-charlie-kirk.html

Planning Committee for U.S.’ 250th Birthday Fires Director for ‘Breach of Trust’
The bipartisan commission said the official, Ari Abergel, a Trump ally, had misused a social-media account and improperly pushed some members to resign.
By David A. Fahrenthold
Sept. 23, 2025 Updated 5:38 p.m. ET

The commission planning official celebrations for the United States’ 250th birthday said on Tuesday that it had fired its executive director — an ally of President Trump — for “serious and repeated breaches of authority and trust.”

The U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, whose members include both Republican and Democratic members of Congress as well as current cabinet members, business leaders and others, said in a statement that the official, Ari Abergel, had “initiated a security breach of a commission social media account,” tried to coerce members to resign under false pretenses and defied orders from the commission’s leaders. The statement said that Mr. Abergel had jeopardized the commission’s “operations and reputation.”

A former Fox News producer and veteran of Mr. Trump’s first White House, Mr. Abergel was hired by the commission this spring on Mr. Trump’s recommendation.

Mr. Abergel’s firing was a clear sign of the tension and confusion surrounding the anniversary celebrations. The commission has planned a series of nonpartisan events — including a children’s art contest and a volunteerism effort — that would culminate next July 4 with a celebration on the National Mall.

But President Trump has established a separate White House effort to plan its own events — including civics lessons with conservative groups, and potentially mixed martial-arts fights on the White House grounds. That has led to concerns that the nation’s 250th birthday could become something narrower than originally intended: a celebration of Mr. Trump and his movement.

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