Rolling across the country under the banner of America’s 250th anniversary, President Trump’s “Freedom Trucks” might be heading to a city near you—and if not, you can now submit a request for one in the newly launched fleet of double-wide 18-wheelers. While the White House pitches these mobile museums as a cohesive version of American history, critics argue they do the exact opposite by sanitizing Black history in the process.
Rachel Reisner, Freedom 250 spokesperson, said the organization “is sparking a unifying movement across all 50 states that celebrates the American spirit and showcases our nation at its best,” according to Reuters.
However, critics assert that the Freedom Trucks are missing institutional accountability, while offering a heavily whitewashed version of American history in its place.
When visitors step onto the tricked-out museum on wheels, an AI-generated George Washington greets them dressed in a black velvet coat. After introducing himself, the life-size AI Washington asks, “Are you willing to pledge your lives, your fortunes and your sacred honor for the American cause? The fate of country, the fate of liberty, is in your hands.”
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Even when the exhibits acknowledge the existence of slavery, the narrative takes a bizarre turn. Rather than examining the horrors of human bondage, the display insultingly suggests the positive impacts of European patriotism, praising the testament to American values.
Critics argue that the Prager University-designed material deliberately downplays the generational trauma and horrific realities of the slave trade, replacing raw historical facts with a watered down version that treats America’s most horrific transgressions as minor footnotes. While squarely telling one side of the story, the trucks celebrate a nation being founded while simultaneously denying the systemic violence that built it.
At its core, Freedom Trucks also paint an unmistakable picture of America as a white, Christian nation. While a select few Black icons like Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks are given brief, token nods among the exhibit’s “50 American Heroes,” the displays lopsidedly honor white men.
And good luck finding any notable mentions of Native Americans. The trucks, however, did manage to include one passage from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: “The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent,” according to reports.
At the exhibition’s exit, visitors are greeted with a video of Trump sitting at his Oval Office desk. In it, he hails America as “the greatest force for freedom, justice, equality and prosperity in the history of the world.”
The trucks are scheduled to make nearly 100 stops, and are currently on display in North Carolina and West Virginia. Stops are scheduled in Pennsylvania and Wyoming through July 4.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency, gave a $14 million grant for the six Freedom Trucks, however, a group of U.S. Senate Democrats had questions.
Back in March, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum asked why government funds were directed to “a private entity that is unaccountable to the American people,” Reuters reported. Democrats have also been investigating whether money appropriated by Congress for “America 250” events has been diverted to the White House’s Freedom 250 celebration, allegations Republicans have disputed.
