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Let Copilot talk you through step-by-step guidance so you can master new apps, games, and skills faster. Try now at windows.com slash Copilot. We will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There could be no more fitting tribute. to this epic milestone than to complete the comeback of America that began just one year ago.
When the world looks at us next year, let them see a nation that is loyal to its citizens, faithful to its workers, confident to its identity, certain to its destiny. and the envy of the entire globe We are respected again like we have never been respected before. And now we're time to celebrate year 250. I remember I was in grade school during 1976 Centennial, everything from ashtrays to light switch covers with 1776. And think about it.
People are like, well, we're polarized now. You want to know polarized? Coming up the Watergate scandal, have Gerald Ford as president, Gerald Ford not elected, the first president that didn't go through an election, coming out of the Vietnam War, ending the draft, trying to rebuild our military in real time with a volunteer draft.
So that's the 1970s. You know, I think interest rates for a mortgage were double digits, let alone inflation. And then we had the Jimmy Carter years to look forward to, but still it was nonstop celebration.
So it's Monica Crowley's job to make sure it's the same thing, if not better, and will be better this year for 250. She is the U.S. Chief of Protocol and the Trump administration's representative for America 250. Ambassador, welcome. Hey, good morning, Brian.
Great to talk with you. All right.
So there's some things that you announced already, and then we find out about another big announcement from the President today. But on the 31st, the Washington Monument gets a lighting on a New Year's Eve show in the National Mall in May. One Nation Under God National Prayer Gathering, May 17th. On the 25th, Memorial Day observance at the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater. And then June 11th, FIFA Fan Fest, the 25th, the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
And then Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library opens up in North Dakota on July 1st. And another big thing, obviously, July 3rd and 4th, the 250 parade of tall ships and international naval reviews.
So these are just some of the things you've announced already. Not going to be an easy year for you. Shit, but Yes, well, thank you, Brian. Including my day job as Chief Protocol of the United States, which literally is a full-time job with this president because I and my team, which is an extraordinary team, we manage all of the diplomatic engagements for the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state. And since January 20th, Brian, we have handled over 150 foreign visits, foreign trips for all three of them.
So in addition to all of that, the president has asked me to be his representative for all of the major U.S.-hosted events during his term. That includes America's 250th birthday, which you laid out really well. It also includes the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in the U.S., the final certainly next year. And you'll recall that the president heroically brought the World Cup to the United States back in his first term. And the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which seems like forever away.
But it's really not, just a couple of years away.
So you laid out America 250 and that birthday well. What we announced yesterday, the president led the charge in making the announcement, and I joined you on Fox and Friends yesterday to talk about it, is Freedom 250.
So you can find all the information that you laid out at freedom250.org, and that is a new public-private partnership that is going to lead the way on presidential programming. All of the different events that you just identified. All of that, plus, it will serve as the national platform to connect, align, and amplify all of the national. Community, statewide, local efforts to celebrate America's 250th.
So we're bringing everybody together: federal agencies, organizations, businesses, philanthropic causes, individuals, anybody who wants to get involved in celebrating America and our big birthday next year can get involved at freedom250.org.
So, Monica, Ambassador, I should say.
So, when you look at the Patriot Games, I didn't know about this. It's going to be high school, state against state, high school against high school. Oh yes, this is going to be a massive nationwide sporting competition for high school athletes, all fifty states going to be competing in the Patriot Games, going all the way up to a championship where the President of the United States is going to be involved.
So that's going to be fascinating.
Now, this is an opportunity, don't you think, for the nation to come together? Because there's nothing controversial about anything. It's we're pulling for the same team, the same country, while recognizing our incredible history. Do you get any sense that in a polarized Washington, Monica, with all your years of experience, that there might be Democrats who say, yeah, make sure I'm a part of this?
Well, you know, I will tell you there is an American 250 Commission that was created about 10 years ago. It's congressionally constituted. Freedom 250 is working in partnership with that commission. That is a bipartisan commission, 50-50 Democrats and Republicans. They have their own programming, which is really civic, community, and service-oriented, versus what we're doing at Freedom 250, which is more national, the presidential kind of programming, and the national platform.
The Freedom 250 is nonpartisan versus the commission, which is bipartisan, but we're all working together. And I would hope, Brian, that the leaders of the blue states and blue cities like New York and California, Massachusetts, in particular, you know, the eastern seaboard states, many of which are blue, but they made up the 13 colonies. I would hope that everybody, every single American, whether you're red or blue, Republican, Democrat, pro-Trump, anti-Trump, whatever. Whatever your political beliefs are, set them aside for next year because this is going to be a massive national celebration of our great country and all of the things that make this country exceptional. Our freedom, our faith, our fighting spirit, and of course our people.
This is going to be more than a celebration. This is going to be a renewal of sorts, a renewal of pride and patriotism and the pioneering American spirit.
So I would hope everybody would get over their transient political opposition or beliefs, set all of that aside for the greater cause of celebrating this exceptional country.
So you got to know and work for Richard Nixon after he was done with the presidency, but do you think I'm characterizing Accurately, the mood in the country 200 years ago. I mean, it was in fifth or sixth grade, but looking back, I mean, there was much more reasons to be down about the economy, our military, the spirit of the country, and all we had was nonstop celebration.
So looking back 200 years to 250. You gotta be pleased. I mean, in the big picture. Actually, you know, historians got to be saying, well, America has made so unbelievable progress. This is such a huge opportunity to unite the country and unify all Americans across every kind of bridge, whether it's racial, political, ethnic, you name it, bring everybody together.
And you mentioned 1976.
Some of us were very, very, very young during that period of time, right? But we may not remember every little detail about what President Ford did or what was done, but we do remember how we felt. It was this overwhelming, indelible sense of pride in our country, patriotism, having everybody come together. I remember being a little girl down the Jersey shore, and everybody like on Long Beach Island had little flags. We all came out for the fireworks and ice cream.
The whole community came together, the whole state, the whole country, and really the world helped us celebrate. And what we're trying to do next year through Freedom 250 is create that exact same, but even bigger, sense of unity and pride and patriotism, and as a way of overcoming the divisions that are very serious, just as they were in 1976. But this gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to celebrate in a monumental way our great country. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmead here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater?
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So, this is not your only job, as you mentioned. Everyone saw you when they had that meeting when all the European leaders came to visit President Trump on the Ukrainian deal with President Zelensky. You had to greet each and every one of them in that really quick turnaround. Also, in Alaska, you had a chance to, I think, meet Vladimir Putin. What's this been like for you?
Oh, thank you, Brian. You know, everybody said to me when the President nominated me for this job one year ago, everybody said, you know, Monica, Chief Protocol of the United States, that is literally the best job in Washington. And I thought, oh, that's nice to hear. But then I thought, ah, Secretary of War is pretty good. Secretary of State is pretty good.
But now that I've been in the job, pardon me, I can honestly say. Yeah. You can hear, I'm working around the clock. I can honestly say that it really is the best job in all of Washington. And I am so blessed and honored to have this job, Brian.
It is extraordinary to be with the President of the United States by his side in all of these diplomatic engagements with all of these world leaders as he is really making America respected again, demonstrating American strength and power and prestige again on the world stage. It is really such an honor and a blessing, and I'm so grateful to him.
So, and we'll see how this goes.
Now, the President's going to have a big announcement today. Can you tell us anything about that? Or is it going to be an address? Is it going to be a press conference? Do you know?
Yes.
Well, I never want to get in front of the President of the United States because he has announced that he will be making an announcement this afternoon at, I believe, one o'clock.
So we will all gather together, Brian, and see what he has to say. What is it like dealing and seeing the press on a daily basis where some of them so clearly, instead of reporting and maybe after a few drinks finding out who the reporters voted for? You can really see by the tone in their questions, by the way they approach it, they're kind of rooting for him to loose. The ones that just guided by and let Joe Biden just disappear, not answer any questions, a press secretary with no information. Is it tough to see?
Well, you know, the unfairness of it is really tough. I mean, I know life isn't fair. We all know that. But seeing the gross injustice that has been delivered to this president since he first became a political figure in June of 2015, when he came down the escalator, they have dismissed him. They have mocked him.
They have attacked him unfairly, lied about him, smeared about him. It is because Donald Trump is an existential threat to their entire system. Whether you're in the press with your whole superstructure of propaganda, he goes right to the American people. And you know what? You may not like what he says or how he says it all the time, but Donald Trump is one of, if not the most honest president we have ever had.
You may not like hearing the truth, but he is always going to tell you the truth. And that disturbs their whole ecosystem of propaganda and lies that they have always fed to the American people. It is infuriating, but Donald Trump is the one figure who can surmount all of that. And take his case directly to the American people.
So I'm talking to Ambassador Monica Crowley. And Monica, before I let you go, I don't have to tell anybody that when you're actually working with or for President Trump, you're also in the line of fire. We watch Pete Hagseth get ripped almost every single day. We watch what happened to Michael Flynn, what happened to you when you were nominated, K.T. McFarland when you were nominated.
Was there a hesitation about going back into this swamp after what you had to deal with in the first term? Not for a single second, because I've been with Donald Trump from the beginning. And I've talked for a living, Brian, which is why I have this frog in my throat. But I will tell you that I've literally been with him since June of 2015. I have never wavered.
I've always believed in him and his message of making America great again, America first, protecting the American worker, bringing manufacturing back, restoring American power and prestige on the world stage. I have been right by his side through sick and thin for 11 years now.
So there was never a moment of doubt when he was running again. I knew he was going to run again right after 2020. I said, oh, here we go again in four years. Because this man never gives up. He never gives up on himself, but he also never gives up on the American people and the country.
This is why he's in this to begin with.
So, no. And when he called me for this job, Brian. I said, absolutely, Mr. President, whatever you would like me to do. And it's such an honor to serve once again.
And the question that blends both presidents that you work for: Nixon and Trump: what did Nixon think of Trump?
Well, you know, it's funny, I was with the president in the White House the other day, and he raised President Nixon with me because he knows that I worked with President Nixon during the last years of his life. I was not born when he was elected, but I worked with him during the last years of his life. And, you know, I was telling President Trump what a good man Richard Nixon was. And guess what? The deep state got him too.
And we're going to find that out, too, because you're going to get the Watergate files that's going to tell the truth about that scandal as well. President Nixon, and President Trump raised this with me the other day. He said, you know, Mrs. Nixon saw me on the Donahue show in the late 80s. And Mrs.
Nixon told President Nixon, she said, you know, this Donald Trump, he's not just a successful businessman, he has real political talent. And then President Nixon watched the show and he wrote very famously, President Trump, a letter, I believe it was 1988, and he told him point blank, if you choose to seek political office, You will win.
So that circle from Nixon to Trump for me personally, Brian, is extraordinary. And you're doing a great job. And I look forward to 250 like no one else, and because I really appreciate America's history. And if you're saying to yourself, you know, I'm so busy, I never really read about it, start reading about our past, 1775, 1776, what happened in the War of 1812. You realize how close we came to being destroyed and how unlikely it was that we would survive, let alone become the number one country in the world.
So then you realize how special it is. Monica Crowley, Ambassador Monica Crowley, thanks so much. Oh, it's a pleasure, Brian. Thank you. This is Ainsley Earhart.
Thank you for joining me for the 52-episode podcast series, The Life of Jesus. A listening experience that will provide hope, comfort, and understanding of the greatest story ever told. Listen and follow now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.
