{"id":2446,"date":"2026-06-29T20:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2026-06-29T20:39:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:39:54","slug":"ken-burns-trumps-deep-and-abiding-insecurity-cheapens-us-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s ‘deep and abiding insecurity’ cheapens US history"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There is arguably no greater name in American history than that of documentarian Ken Burns, and in a new conversation with Politico, he didn\u2019t hold back when discussing his thoughts on President Donald Trump\u2019s approach to celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday. Rather than honoring America, said Burns, Trump\u2019s narcissistic spectacle comes from a place of \u201cdeep and abiding insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court declares war on democracy: Krugman<\/a><\/p>\n

Burns was speaking with Politico Senior White House Correspondent Dasha Burns<\/u>, who asked him what he thought of how the administration was approaching the historic moment that is the country\u2019s semiquincentennial. His response was frank: \u201cThey\u2019re not. They\u2019re not asking Americans to look into our past, our complex past, as all pasts are. We\u2019re not being asked to look at it. We\u2019re being told to abbreviate it, to make it only positive, to just have it be a sunshine story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The renowned documentarian was referencing not only the content of the administration\u2019s 250th celebration, but its wider effort to reconstruct historical narratives being taught across the country to suit the MAGA agenda. This has included everything from working Bible readings into school curricula<\/u>, to removing discussion of slavery and indigenous genocide from textbooks<\/u>, to seizing control of the country\u2019s top history museum<\/u>.<\/p>\n

He was also asked for his thoughts on the garish celebrations themselves, which, after a controversial build-up<\/u>, seemed to descend into chaos<\/u> within a few hours. The whole affair has been spackled with Trump\u2019s vanity projects, from the gold-coated horse statues<\/u>, to a mini-mock-up of his much-demanded arch (which promptly collapsed<\/u>), to the Reflecting Pool debacle. <\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court just handed Trump a huge loss in his election scheme: GOP impeachment lawyer<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all examples of a deep and abiding insecurity,\u201d asserted Burns. \u201cGreatness doesn\u2019t need it. The best memorial that there is in all of Washington is the Lincoln Memorial. It\u2019s one of the most extraordinary places on the face of the earth, which will be cheapened by some of [Trump\u2019s] activities. The monument will survive, but Lincoln, like Washington, needed no monument in his lifetime. He wasn\u2019t worried about what it was that people would do to build in honor of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the note of George Washington, Dasha Burns asked what Ken Burns thought would happen in a Washington-Trump encounter. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, the humility that Washington displayed, the anxiety that Adams had about displays of avarice and ambition, the sense of the pursuit of happiness that Jefferson developed and that everyone who believed about lifelong learning\u2026\u201d These figures, asserted Burns, \u201cwould be stunned by someone who seems completely ahistorical, completely disinterested in learning. And I think that would be shocking to them. They would be upset at the brazen self-promotion that takes place daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The real reason that Trump keeps sabotaging his own agenda<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is arguably no greater name in American history than that of documentarian Ken Burns, and in a new conversation with Politico, he didn\u2019t hold back when discussing his thoughts on President Donald Trump\u2019s approach to celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday. Rather than honoring America, said B…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nKen Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is arguably no greater name in American history than that of documentarian Ken Burns, and in a new conversation with Politico, he didn\u2019t hold back when discussing his thoughts on President Donald Trump\u2019s approach to celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday. Rather than honoring America, said B...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s ‘deep and abiding insecurity’ cheapens US history\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446\",\"name\":\"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=2446#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s ‘deep and abiding insecurity’ cheapens US history\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Address America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America","og_description":"There is arguably no greater name in American history than that of documentarian Ken Burns, and in a new conversation with Politico, he didn\u2019t hold back when discussing his thoughts on President Donald Trump\u2019s approach to celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday. Rather than honoring America, said B...","og_url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446","og_site_name":"Next Address America","article_published_time":"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"headline":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s ‘deep and abiding insecurity’ cheapens US history","datePublished":"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446"},"wordCount":498,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446","name":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s 'deep and abiding insecurity' cheapens US history - Next Address America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/11f4f55228cc7efad698e5d752b7225b.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2446#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ken Burns: Trump\u2019s ‘deep and abiding insecurity’ cheapens US history"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/","name":"Next Address America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}