President Donald Trump's Grand Prix IndyCar race on the National Mall is drawing alarm in Washington, D.C., over concerns about graft and severe traffic disruption.

Trump set the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in motion with a January executive order. The race is intended to cap a summer of Trump-backed events celebrating the country's 250th anniversary — the semiquincentennial, marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence — and it is scheduled for Sunday. The venue is federal parkland: the National Mall, which stretches between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial and is managed by the National Park Service, is best known for its monuments, Smithsonian museums and large public gatherings.

Ahead of the race, critics called out the event. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) wrote on X that he is alarmed to see the event affiliated with Freedom 250, which he described as a corrupt organization.

"Not too long ago, I was sounding the alarm about Freedom 250 — a shadow corporation riddled with corruption and self-enrichment that deceived donors, solicited foreign money, sold access to the president, and awarded no-bid contracts to Trump loyalists," Huffman wrote. "So it's concerning to see Trump's Grand Prix on the National Mall racing under its banner."

"It's hard to imagine a better metaphor for this whole grift: Trump's ego racing around Washington while the American people wait for answers about who has funded this operation and who has benefited," he added.

Concerns have also focused on whether the capital's streets are suited to an IndyCar race. Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the political news network MeidasTouch, responded to a post by former NASCAR driver turned GOP Washington congressional candidate Jerrod Sessler, who noted that "the track is VERY bumpy!"

"I don't think the streets of DC were designed for IndyCar races," Filipkowski wrote.

Journalist Johnathan Nicholson agreed, writing, "If I were going 140 mph, I'm not sure, actually I'm pretty doubtful, I'd want to pin my safety on the effectiveness of DC Public Works in repairing potholes and bus lane ruts around the Mall."

Street racing itself is an established part of American open-wheel competition: the IndyCar calendar regularly includes temporary street circuits in cities such as Long Beach, California; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Detroit, where downtown roads are closed off with concrete barriers and catch fencing for race weekend. Assembling and removing that temporary infrastructure typically disrupts surrounding traffic for days around the event, a dynamic residents of other host cities have also experienced.

Jon Michael Raasch, White House correspondent for The Daily Mail, described how the track has affected D.C. traffic.

"It took me almost two hours to drive 2.2 miles home from downtown DC to the Wharf," he wrote. "This Grand Prix traffic is another level. Avoid driving this week at all costs."