Donald Trump’s Fourth of July stunt suffers from bizarre fireworks scandal

| 7:07 pm EDT July 4, 2019
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Donald Trump’s decision to hijack the nation’s Fourth of July celebration for campaign purposes has been scandalous from the start. He’s in danger of violating campaign finance laws, he’s turning a civilian celebration into a military debacle, and he’s diverting funds away from the National Park Service budget. Now we’re seeing the true extent of the corrupt nature of Trump’s stunt – thanks to, of all things, fireworks.

Earlier this week Donald Trump tweeted “Thanks to “Phantom Fireworks” and “Fireworks by Grucci” for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen. CEO’s Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our Nations history!” At the time, Palmer Report quipped that Trump’s decision to use “Phantom Fireworks” suggested that the fireworks would only exist in his mind. But it turns out Phantom Fireworks is actually the source of a corrupt – and perhaps even criminal – Trump scandal.

ABC News is reporting that Phantom Fireworks is donating three quarters of a million dollars in fireworks to Donald Trump’s Fourth of July stunt. As it turns out, Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan met with Trump last month and convinced him not to implement new tariffs on China, because it would hurt his business. Now he’s paying Trump back, in real dollars.

This obviously corrupt on its face, as it’s clearly something of a bribe. When you consider that Donald Trump is using the Fourth of July celebration as a de facto 2020 campaign event, you could argue that Trump is illegally accepting a bribe in violation of campaign finance laws. If that feels like a technicality, consider that Trump was named “Individual 1” as a direct result of violating campaign finance laws while paying off Stormy Daniels.