The United States will celebrate its 250th birthday tomorrow. The occasion has been marked by events all over the nation’s capital, from summer cookouts to military parades. But behind the scenes, these celebrations have been shaped by an ongoing struggle between some of the nation’s most powerful forces over who is in charge: the federal government, the president, or the corporations funding them both?

There are currently two different organizations organizing America’s 250th anniversary, and they are in direct competition with one another. America250 is a bipartisan organization created by Congress with the goal of organizing an anniversary that could be celebrated by all Americans. Freedom 250, on the other hand, is a company created by the White House shortly after President Trump was sworn back into office; though it is technically part of the National Park Foundation, it is controlled by the president and his appointees.

Trump’s initiative has gradually absorbed many of the responsibilities that were supposed to be overseen by America250 over the last year, a power grab that mirrors the president’s other efforts to remake the federal government in his own image. Massive posters with Freedom 250 branding now adorn several government agency headquarters across downtown D.C. Freedom 250 has sponsored ads in the city’s Metro system to announce that the CIA is hiring new recruits, and its logo will even be placed on the Social Security cards of all newborn babies for the rest of the year.

Both anniversary initiatives are funded by massive corporations that are simultaneously lobbying Congress, donating to politicians, and running advertising campaigns to influence the government. The large pool of money dedicated to the anniversary celebrations—including funds from both the government and the private sector—helped to encourage the president’s takeover: The more events Freedom 250 controls, the more of these funds it can absorb. The result has been a three-way tug-of-war between the public, the president, and corporate boardrooms over who gets to define American culture on this historic occasion. Right now, the public is losing.