Exclusive: Events Firm Behind January 6 Rally Has Secured $26 Million in Federal Contracts Under Trump
Documents reviewed by WIRED confirm that an events production company whose staff helped organize the January 6, 2021 pro-Trump rally at the Ellipse has won more than $26 million in U.S. government contracts since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Virginia-based Event Strategies, a firm with deep ties to Trump’s political network, recently locked in a 15-year contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) that could ultimately be worth as much as $100 million.
This dramatic surge in federal work marks a striking turnaround for the 26-year-old company. Before Trump’s 2024 election victory, Event Strategies had only collected roughly $50,000 in total government contracts over the prior decade. What’s more, nearly all of the firm’s new federal awards were granted with almost no competitive bidding. Data from HigherGov, a platform used by contractors to track federal and state contract opportunities, shows Event Strategies was the sole bidder on 8 of the 11 recent contracts cataloged by the site.
Most of Event Strategies’ new federal work is tied to America 250, the 18-month national commemoration marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Early in 2025, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission — the bipartisan body created by Congress in 2016 to coordinate the anniversary celebrations — cut ties with Precision Strategies, an events planning firm founded by former Obama administration staffers. Shortly after the split, the commission hired Event Strategies to take over Precision’s role.
Contract records from the federal System for Award Management database, reviewed by WIRED, show Event Strategies secured its first America 250-related contract by September 2025: a $5 million agreement for work on Titans of the Sea, an event honoring the U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary. Just weeks later, the company won a second $2.1 million contract for general “AMERICA 250 - EVENTS” work. Most recently, in early February 2026, Event Strategies landed a $333,084 contract with the GSA for “FREEDOM 250 DESIGN AND CONTENT SUPPORT SERVICES.” Per the White House, Freedom 250 is a public-private partnership tied to the broader America 250 initiative.
The America 250 commemoration has already sparked fierce political controversy. Over the past several months, large banners linked to the project have been hung on federal buildings across Washington, D.C. One banner displayed outside the Department of Justice featured an oversized portrait of Trump alongside the slogan “Make America Safe Again.” While the DOJ claimed the banner was hung to “celebrate 250 years of our great country,” many observers called it proof the department has abandoned political independence during Trump’s second term. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the banner “beyond parody” in a Facebook post, writing: “How many dictatorship-style monuments, building name changes, and fake awards do Americans have to endure?”
In early March 2026, new banners went up outside the Department of Education building near Capitol Hill, featuring portraits of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, and 19th-century education reformer Catharine Beecher, alongside two large America 250 logos. Critics voiced particular outrage over Kirk’s inclusion: the late co-founder of Turning Point USA publicly called for the full abolition of the Department of Education and built his public profile on a history of racist and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
WIRED could not confirm whether these banners, or the DOJ banner, were designed and installed by Event Strategies. Neither the DOJ nor the Department of Education responded to requests for comment about which firm was responsible for the displays.
“There is a proper federal competitive bidding process, and the White House expects all agencies to comply with it,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told WIRED. When asked for additional comment about Event Strategies, Ingle referred all questions to the GSA, which did not respond to requests for comment.
The Contracts
When Trump lost the 2020 election, Event Strategies was already embedded in his inner political circle: permit paperwork for the January 6, 2021 rally lists company co-founder Tim Unes as the event’s stage manager. Megan Powers Small, who now serves as Event Strategies’ chief of staff, was tagged on the permit as the rally’s “Operations Manager for Scheduling and Guidance.” Justin Caporale was listed as the rally’s project manager. Today, Caporale is Event Strategies’ CEO and managing partner, and he previously worked as director of operations for Melania Trump in 2018, before joining Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.
Even during the four years Trump was out of office, he continued to partner with Event Strategies. The company produced most of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign rallies, and 2024 campaign filings show Event Strategies received $31 million from the Trump 47 Committee PAC over just seven months. Photos on Caporale’s personal Instagram account also show him alongside Trump and senior administration officials at many of these events.
After Trump won re-election in 2024, he named Caporale his administration’s “executive producer for major events” that December. In the 14 months since Caporale’s appointment, Event Strategies has been awarded a dozen federal contracts worth up to $26,802,188 combined. The firm organized Trump’s widely derided military parade in Washington, D.C. last June, and produced multiple other events for U.S. armed services over the past year. By contrast, Event Strategies received zero federal contracts during the entire Biden administration. Even in the final year of Trump’s first term, the company’s total government contracts amounted to just $33,000.
FEC filings show Caporale, who did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment, has also been paid roughly $6,500 per month by the Republican National Committee from early 2025 through January 2026. Unes and Powers Small did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Event Strategies Inc. did not reply to three separate requests for comment from WIRED.
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Since Trump returned to the White House, the Department of Defense has been Event Strategies’ largest federal customer. Per data from USASpending.gov, the federal government’s public contract tracking site, the DoD has awarded more than $8 million in contracts to the Virginia firm in just over a year. The vast majority of that total comes from the $5 million Titans of the Sea contract, which covered a U.S. Navy presidential review held last October. In September 2025, the DoD also paid the firm $189,297 for an event listed in records as a “BACKYARD COOKOUT AND PERFORMANCE.” The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) paid Event Strategies $79,560 to organize a naturalization ceremony at Mount Rushmore last October, which was attended by outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem used the trip to also film a campaign ad that featured her riding horseback. In January 2026, the company signed a $4.4 million contract with DHS to provide “services to support digital communication solutions to aid passenger communications throughout the security screening process for FIFA World Cup 2026 and America 250 events.”
Event Strategies’ potentially most lucrative deal is a multi-award contract it signed with the GSA last fall, with a total ceiling of $100 million. To date, more than $10 million in contracts have already been awarded under the agreement, the majority of which are tied to America 250 events. The contract’s current term runs through 2030, with an option to extend it all the way to 2045. The agreement’s exact scope is broadly worded, only noting it will cover “Conference, Meeting, Event and Trade Show PlanningServices [sic].” But the attached pricing outline shows Event Strategies will be required to onboard 12 full-time staff for the work, including an executive director, two project managers, two technical directors, and three A/V lighting technicians.
Event Strategies’ most recent federal contract was signed February 27, 2026 with the U.S. Department of State. The contract, which was scheduled to begin several days before it was officially signed, is described only as “EVENT SUPPORT” and is valued at $3.7 million. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the award.
Last week, Senate Democrats sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum demanding greater transparency into how public funds are being spent on America 250 celebrations. “It is imperative that Congress and the public understand how decisions are made, who exercises control, and what guardrails exist to prevent inappropriate donor influence,” the senators wrote. “Absent clear rules, this structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising and pay-for-play access tied to official government functions, an all too familiar feature of the current Administration.”
