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 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.
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![Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Blade_DeadpoolWolverine-1280x853.jpg)
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