A 25-year-old former Fox & Friends producer has been tasked with overseeing President Donald Trump’s lavish military parade and putting on an even bigger bash next year: America’s 250th birthday.
Ariel Abergel graduated from college in 2021, briefly worked at the White House during Trump’s first term, and cut his teeth as a young producer on the popular morning show that catapulted the career of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In an Instagram post marking his departure from Fox earlier this year, Steve Doocy reminisced about a trip they had taken through snowy Iowa, affectionately referring to him as “Ari the driver” and “an actual friend and wonderful producer.”
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Now, he’s the executive director of America250, an initiative that was set up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4 next year.
Ahead of that epic shindig, Abergel is also overseeing Trump’s military parade, which takes place on Saturday in Washington, D.C. as the president celebrates his 79th birthday.
But according to a new report in The Atlantic, numerous Trump allies have also been brought into the fold, sparking concerns that America250 — which is meant to put on non-political events overseen by a bipartisan commission and backed by Congressional spending—has been “hijacked” to prop up the president.
“It is unfortunate that what was meant to unite the country and honor its history has been twisted into yet another scheme for his own personal gain,” Democrat Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is a member of the Commission, said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
“Tomorrow’s military parade has little to do with honoring our troops or marking the 250th Anniversary of the Army or our nation’s founding - yet it’s being run under the banner of America250 without advance notice to, or consent from, the members of the Commission.”
According to The Atlantic report, several Trump campaign allies now work alongside Abergel, including senior adviser Chris LaCivita, events planner Justin Caporale, and fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke.
Former Fox contributor Monica Crowley, who is now the U.S. chief of protocol, is the group’s media representative.
Meanwhile, a list of donors on the America250 website is filled with corporations that have sought to align themselves with Trump, including UFC (run by Trump ally Dana White); Palantir (the tech company co-founded by JD Vance benefactor Peter Thiel); and Amazon (headed by Jeff Bezos).
And the operation reportedly helped fundraise for the president’s speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday.
As tensions flared in Los Angeles over his immigration crackdown, Trump spent part of the speech hitting out at everyone from the “fake news” media and former president Joe Biden to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass.
Abergel’s role at America250 comes on the heels of news that Thomas Fulgate, a 22-year-old college graduate with no previous national security experience, had been appointed to head up a Department of Homeland Security terror prevention team.
The Daily Beast reached out to the former Fox & Friends producer and America250 for comment but did not hear back before publication.
Rosie Rios, the chair of America250 and a former treasurer under Barack Obama, was quoted in The Atlantic praising Abergel and the team for bringing a “fresh perspective” to connect with Americans across the country.
Trump, meanwhile, has previously defended the America250 mission as well as his military parade in Washington, which he says will be “unforgettable.”
So too has Crowley, who told Breitbart in an interview: “This is not simply a military parade. This parade is going to be a tribute to our history. It’s going to be a patriotic celebration of the Army’s legacy, and it’s also going to be a call to inspire the next generation of service-minded Americans.”
The parade is expected to cost up to $45 million according to conservative estimates. It will feature 61-tonne Abrams battle tanks, a fleet of armoured Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, as well as Black Hawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters.
But as tanks and howitzers roll through the streets of downtown D.C. on Saturday, millions of people are expected to march in cities and towns across the U.S. in a display of defiance against the president and his policies.
One campaign, Kick Out the Clowns, will feature activists holding street circuses to highlight what it says is the “absurdity” of the Trump administration. Another protest, known as No Kings, will seek to push back against authoritarianism in America.
“We’re in an existential crisis with respect to our democracy and our Constitution right now, in the face of a wannabe dictator in the White House,” said John Bonifaz, a constitutional lawyer and president of Free Speech for People.
