As celebrations ramp up for America’s 250th birthday this week, Tampa-based mining giant Mosaic is providing a sponsorship boost to the Trump administration’s party.
The fertilizer producer is listed as a “patriotic partner” of Freedom 250, a limited liability corporation created by the National Parks Foundation to plan and execute events at national parks and monuments for the country’s 250th anniversary.
President Donald Trump announced the organization on X in December as a public-private partnership to “renew the patriotism, pride and pioneering spirit of America.” Mosaic is one of 20 corporations that are sponsoring Freedom 250, alongside Palantir, ExxonMobil and Chevron, according to the group’s webpage.
Freedom 250 is separate from America250, a nonprofit federal commission established by Congress a decade ago to plan events around the 250th anniversary.
Both entities say they’re nonpartisan, but Democrats and watchdog groups have raised concerns about Freedom 250, noting in part that it hasn’t shared how much each corporate sponsor has donated. Multiple sponsors, including Mosaic, have given while they have active business requests before the federal government.
In February, the New York Times reported that Freedom 250 was advertising access to Trump in exchange for sponsorships.
Donors who pledge $1 million or more receive invitations to a private reception hosted by the president, while those who donate at least $2.5 million get speaking roles at an event Saturday in Washington as the nation celebrates its independence, according to the group’s sponsorship packages in the solicitation document obtained by the New York Times.
Mosaic’s sponsorship comes as it seeks approval from the federal government to expand its phosphate mining waste pile in Hillsborough County, a project that could extend the lifespan of the company’s Riverview plant by more than 15 years.
Spokespeople for Mosaic did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the sponsorship.
The company wants to widen its phosphogypsum stack, close to the shores of Tampa Bay, by nearly 180 acres. Phosphogypsum is a mildly radioactive byproduct created when making fertilizer. It contains radium that decays to form radon gas.
Both radium and radon can cause cancer, so the federal government requires companies like Mosaic to store the waste in engineered “gypstacks.” The scale of the proposed project, and the solid waste it involves, means Mosaic must receive approval from at least three federal agencies: the U.S. departments of the Interior and Commerce and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Mosaic regularly has proposals before the federal government. The Fortune 500 company’s operations — both mining and processing phosphate — employ more than 3,000 people in the greater Tampa Bay region, according to the company.
Freedom 250 has a slate of events on deck this week, including the ongoing “Great American State Fair,” a celebration at Mount Rushmore and more than 850,000 fireworks shells launched from sites across Washington, D.C.
In August, Freedom 250 is hosting “The Patriot Games,” a nationally televised teen athletic tournament.
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