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“It is deeply concerning that attendees are being forced to share personal data that then is almost certainly being monetized for partisan ends,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen.

Cellphone numbers and email addresses are among the most valuable assets in modern political campaigns because they allow organizations to contact supporters directly with fundraising appeals, volunteer requests and voter mobilization messages at little cost.

USA TODAY screenshot of registration portal for June 24 "America is Back," the official opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, an event sponsored by the White House-affiliated Freedom 250 organization and featuring a speech by President Donald Trump, showing link to 45.donaldjtrump.com website.
That's why campaign finance and ethics experts say questions about who collects, controls and uses those lists matter, particularly when Freedom 250 events take place on federal property using taxpayer-supported resources.

“Information capture must be voluntary and well-understood,” Gilbert told USA TODAY, “and as unsavory as it is that Trump is turning our nation’s birthday into a GOP-only celebration, it adds a layer to forcibly capture data and wrap it into the MAGA fundraising machine.”

Organizers of the Freedom 250 events say the RSVP data is only being used to provide attendees with a better customer experience.

After USA TODAY asked for comment about whether registrants for the kickoff event were unknowingly supporting fundraising efforts linked to the president, a spokesperson for Freedom 250 said organizers removed the language and that it had been included by mistake.

“We were made aware that some standard vendor-provided consent language related to opting in for SMS (text) messages referenced fundraising in parts of the registration flow,” said Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner. “That language does not reflect how the SMS messaging system is actually used, which is limited to event logistics and communications, and we quickly corrected it.”