Trump Unveils ‘Red, White and Blue Zones’ Ahead of July Fourth

Critics Claim the Accolade Advances a White Nationalist Agenda

Washington, D.C. – Emboldened by his strong and virtually fact-free showing in last week’s debate and with Independence Day nearly here, the former president announced on Monday a new honorary status for U.S. locales whose residents excel in pride of country.  He calls them Red, White and Blue Zones, and he’s inviting Americans to celebrate “these outstanding freedom-loving communities.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement somewhat cryptically describing Mr. Trump’s newly discovered zones as “places where being American is a source of pride, and we all know what that means.”  He then revealed the identity of eleven locales that satisfy the former president’s Red, White and Blue Zone criteria.

Critics quickly noted that the regions Cheung identified match precisely the eleven states which seceded from the United States in 1860 to protect the practice of slavery and formed the Confederate States of America: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

The campaign did not respond immediately to questions about the apparent coincidence, but at a press conference later the same day Cheung stated, “It sounds like some people have a problem with national pride.  Just because the most patriotic Americans live in regions where people risked everything in a struggle for freedom, states’ rights and long-standing traditions, does not mean these population zones are racist.”

“That’s a false and disgusting if not surprising claim that comes from the unhinged radical left,” Cheung added.  “No, the President’s recognition of these eleven Red, White and Blue Zones does not signify his endorsement or embrace of American white nationalist ideology.”

The Trump campaign acknowledged that its RW&B Zones had been “inspired by” the work of Dan Buettner, the journalist whose 2010 National Geographic story identified five population centers, so-called Blue Zones, which he claimed lead the world in human longevity.  

In 2021 Buettner sold the Blue Zones concept to the hospital corporation Adventist Health for $78 million, and despite the fact that the existence of such zones has been roundly debunked by reputable scientists and health experts– who say his longevity claims depend on fraudulent vital records, among other errors– he continues to promote the idea that members of certain communities around the world, through their commitment to various lifestyle habits, including a healthy diet and strong community connections, have achieved significantly longer lifespans on average, in many cases defying the well-documented effects of poverty.

Today Buettner travels the world marketing so-called blue zones– selling books and giving paid speeches– while the entity he founded (and made millions from) has metastasized to take on roles not typically associated with lifestyle brands, hospital corporations or churches.  Blue Zones, LLC, has secured lucrative contracts with local municipalities like Ukiah, California, to redesign its streets by promoting the construction of traffic circles under the brand name ‘roundabouts,’ for example.

Buettner himself became ensnared in a controversy over the methodology the Trump campaign would employ to locate RW&B Zones in the U.S. with precision.

In early May a campaign representative, Richard Burke, contacted Buettner to solicit his guidance on the criteria and metrics they would adopt.  Buettner, who assumed the outreach might presage his inclusion on Trump’s shortlist of potential running mates, told Burke that to convey the appearance of validity, a committee of outside observers– i.e. non-Americans– must be formed to evaluate U.S. regions for levels of patriotic fervor.

“Obviously bias will creep in when you’re talking about pride of country, so demographers insist that [Trump] ought to enlist neutral arbiters, meaning non-U.S. citizens,” Buettner told the campaign.

In response, the former president and convicted felon reportedly said, “Dan’s a nice guy who had a good idea– and he certainly knows how to make a lot of money, I’ll give him that– but we’re not going to allow foreigners to pick winners in the U.S. of A.” 

“That’s not going to happen, folks.  Not on my watch,” he added, apparently extinguishing Buettner’s short-lived vice-presidential bid.

Adventist Health spokesperson Rachel K. Green refused to comment on the validity of RW&B Zones but conceded AH might seek to acquire the new entity from the former president.  “We are having some preliminary dialogue with the president’s campaign” over a potential purchase, Green said.

While the former president has not identified any objective standards or measures of patriotism he relied upon to isolate the eleven zones, his adviser and former golf caddie Dan Scavino stated that the data “obviously involves the display of the flag– we look at size and number– and the playing and honoring of the national anthem.”

Scavino created a brief moment of confusion by adding what appeared to be a non sequitur:  “By the way, the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances.  We are just going to stay in power.”

The former president raised the topic of the national anthem two weeks ago in an exchange with a Newsmax reporter, who quoted him as saying,  “I don’t think we should allow Marxists like Jose Feliciano, Jimi Hendrix and Colin Kaepernick to desecrate our great anthem.  They know how it’s supposed to sound and what you’re supposed to do when you hear it played correctly.”

“That’s unforgivable what they did, it’s obscene, and when I take back the presidency– which I never gave up, quite frankly– I’ll make sure that type of disrespect doesn’t happen anymore.  Believe me I will,” he added.

When a reporter for The Intercept noted that the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key, owned slaves and that he composed lyrics for a lesser-known verse of the song which celebrates the capture and punishment of people who had escaped slavery, Mr. Trump replied, “Says you.”

He then turned to Mr. Scavino and remarked, “Guy hates the anthem.  Who let the Communist in here?”