Park Service diverts $2.5 million in fees to pay for Trump’s July 4th celebration

Market Watch – by Robert Schroeder

The Washington Post reports the National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with President Donald Trump’s Independence Day celebration on the Mall.

Administration officials, writes the Post, have consistently refused to say how much taxpayers will have to pay for the expanded celebration on the Mall this year, which the president has dubbed the “Salute to America.” 

The report cited two individuals familiar with the arrangement. The park fees represent just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result of the event, writes the Post. The event will include displays of military hardware, flyovers by jets including Air Force One, the deployment of tanks on the Mall and an extended pyrotechnics show.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/park-service-diverts-25-million-in-fees-to-pay-for-trumps-july-4th-celebration-beto-orourke-says-hes-unaware-of-his-fundraising-numbers-2019-07-03