An events company whose associates helped stage the January 6, 2021 rally has signed contracts worth over $26 million with the United States government, according to documents reviewed by WIRED. Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Event Strategies, a Virginia-based firm with deep ties to Trumpworld, has negotiated a contract with the General Services Administration that could be worth up to $100 million over the next 15 years.
It’s a remarkable rise for the 26-year-old firm, which until the recent windfall had received what appeared to be around $50,000 dollars in government contracts over the past decade. It also appears that Event Strategies won these new contracts with very little competition. According to HigherGov, a tool used by contractors to track federal and state contracts, Event Strategies was the only company to bid on eight of the 11 contracts tracked by the site.
Many of the recent contracts are related to America 250, an 18-month-long commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In early 2025, the US Semiquincentennial Commission, a bipartisan group established in 2016 to coordinate the celebrations, cut ties with Precision Strategies, an event planning group founded by Obama-era staffers. Soon after, the commission hired Event Strategies to replace them.
Contracts reviewed by WIRED in the System for Award Management database show that by September 2025, the company had signed its first contract related to the celebrations: a $5 million contract for work related to Titans of the Sea, an event designed to celebrate the Navy’s 250th anniversary. Weeks later, the company signed another contract for a $2.1 million deal for “AMERICA 250 – EVENTS.”
More recently, Event Strategies signed a contract valued at $333,084 with the General Services Administration at the beginning of February for “FREEDOM 250 DESIGN AND CONTENT SUPPORT SERVICES.” Freedom 250 is, according to the White House, a “public-private partnership” related to America 250.
The tenor of the America 250 celebrations have already proven controversial. Over the last few months, large banners ostensibly tied to the project were seen hanging from federal buildings all over Washington, DC. One banner, which was hung outside the Department of Justice, features the tagline: “Make America Safe Again” alongside a massive image of Trump’s face. The DOJ said the banner was hung to “celebrate 250 years of our great country.” To many, the tagline was an indication that the Justice Department has failed to maintain its independence during Trump’s second term. California Governor Gavin Newsom said the banner was “beyond parody,” writing on Facebook: “How many dictatorship-style monuments, building name changes, and fake awards do Americans have to endure?”
In early March, banners featuring Charlie Kirk, Booker T. Washington, and Catharine Beecher were hung outside the Department of Education near Capitol Hill, alongside two large banners featuring the America 250 logo. Critics were alarmed to see Kirk’s likeness on the banner, as the deceased Turning Point USA cofounder and conservative commentator had previously called to “abolish” the Department of Education and was known for numerous racist and homophobic comments.
WIRED could not confirm whether these specific banners, or the banners hanging at the DOJ, were designed and implemented by Event Strategies. The DOJ and the Education Department did not respond to a request for comment about the company responsible for the banners.
“There is a proper federal competitive bidding process, and the White House expects all agencies to comply with it,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle tells WIRED. When asked for further comment about Event Strategies, Ingle referred WIRED to the General Service Administration. GSA did not respond to a request for comment.
The Contracts
When Trump lost the 2020 election, Event Strategies was on hand: Cofounder Tim Unes was listed as a stage manager for the January 6 rally at the Ellipse in 2021, according to the paperwork submitted to secure a permit. Megan Powers Small, who is now the chief of staff at Event Strategies, was tagged on rally permit paperwork as the event’s “Operations Manager for Scheduling and Guidance.” Justin Caporale was listed as a project manager of the event. Though Caporale was later described as the Event Strategies CEO and the company’s managing partner, he had previously worked as director of operations for Melania Trump in 2018 and on the Trump campaign in 2020.
While out of office, Trump continued working with Event Strategies. The company produced many of Trump’s campaign rallies during the 2024 presidential campaign; filings from that year show Event Strategies received $31 million from the Trump 47 Committee PAC over a seven-month period. Caporale’s Instagram account also shows him associating with Trump and administration officials, including at some of those same rallies.
In December 2024, after Trump won reelection, he named Caporale his “executive producer for major events.” In the 14 months since Caporale’s appointment, Event Strategies has received a dozen contracts worth up to $26,802,188. The company helped organize Trump’s widely derided military parade in Washington, DC last June, and staged several other armed services productions throughout the year. In contrast, Event Strategies received zero contracts during the Biden administration. Even in the final year of the previous Trump administration, its contracts appeared to total closer to $33,000.
Caporale, who did not respond to a request for comment, has also been paid around $6,500 per month by the Republican National Committee from early 2025 through January 2026, according to FEC filings. Unes and Powers Small did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Event Strategies Inc. did not respond to three requests for comment from WIRED.
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The Department of Defense has been Event Strategies’ largest government customer since Trump returned to the White House. In just over a year, the agency has handed the Virginia company over $8 million in contracts, according to USASpending.gov, a website that tracks federal government contracts. The vast majority of this amount is made up by the Titans of the Sea contract, a US Navy presidential review that took place in October last year.
In September, the Department of Defense paid the group $189,297 for what was listed as a “BACKYARD COOKOUT AND PERFORMANCE.”
The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security also paid the company $79,560 to organize a naturalization ceremony at Mount Rushmore in October last year, which was attended by outgoing agency secretary Kristi Noem, who used the opportunity to also film an ad featuring her on horseback. In January, the company signed a contract with DHS worth $4.4 million to provide “services to support digital communication solutions to aid passenger communications throughout the security screening process for FIFA World Cup 2026 and America 250 events.”
Event Strategies signed what is potentially its most lucrative contract last fall, a multi-award deal with the GSA that is worth up to $100 million. Of that total payout, contracts totaling more than $10 million have already been signed, including several contracts related to America 250 events. The agreement is presently slated to run through 2030, though there is an option to extend it until 2045. The contract’s exact specifics are vague—it will involve “Conference, Meeting, Event and Trade Show PlanningServices[sic]”—but according to the price list attached to its terms and conditions, Event Strategies will be responsible for onboarding a dozen employees, including an executive director, two project managers, two technical directors, and three A/V lighting technicians.
The company’s most recent government contract was signed on February 27 with the Department of State. The description of the contract, which was set to begin several days before it was signed, reads “EVENT SUPPORT.” The value of the contract was $3.7 million. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Senate Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum last week seeking more transparency on how public funds are being spent on the America 250 anniversary celebrations.
“It is imperative that Congress and the public understand how decisions are made, who exercises control, and what guardrails exist to prevent inappropriate donor influence,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Absent clear rules, this structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising and pay-for-play access tied to official government functions, an all too familiar feature of the current Administration.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: wired.com
