On the evening of July 4 (the early hours of July 5, Bulgarian time), US President Donald Trump led the official celebrations of the quarter-century of the founding of the country with a spectacular event called “Salute to America 250“.
The program on the National Mall in Washington was seriously threatened by the weather - temperatures exceeded 38°C, and later an approaching front of severe thunderstorms prompted the Secret Service to temporarily evacuate attendees to nearby government buildings and museums. Minutes before the event, Trump declared to Fox News: "I won't let a little rain stop our 250th birthday".
Key highlights of the address
- American exceptionalism as a historic mission: Trump placed himself and his administration at the center of the country's revival process, defining the anniversary not as an end, but as the beginning of a new rise.
- Warnings against the “internal threat“: Continuing the line from his speech on the eve of the Mount Rushmore memorial holiday, the president sharply attacked his domestic political opponents, radicalism and foreign ideological influences.
- Future Ambitions: The White House outlined sweeping national goals, including sending Americans to the moon again, a manned mission to Mars and cementing global leadership in artificial intelligence.
Key quotes from the event
Taking the stage to the sounds of the iconic patriotic song "God Bless the USA", performed live by Lee Greenwood, Trump began with a comment about the weather conditions:
„If you thought this was easy — it wasn't.“
The president emphasized the historic significance of the memorial day, announcing the start of a new era for the country.
“Tomorrow (b.r. — referring to the transition to the holiday) we reach a milestone like no other and celebrate with beating hearts and high spirits, because after two and a half centuries we know that this is not the end, this is only the beginning of America's Golden Age.“
In the official White House proclamation accompanying the celebrations, Trump added:
“With a single sheet of parchment and 56 signatures, America began the greatest political journey in human history.“This patriotic tone, however, was combined with sharp political speaking. Trump repeated his warnings from South Dakota that American identity is being subjected to "new attack by radicals and extremists" and that there is "resurgence of the communist threat on our soil", turning Independence Day into a platform for party campaigning ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November.
Context of the celebrations and criticisms
The organization of the large-scale event on the National Mall was undertaken by a public-private initiative close to the White House „Freedom 250“. This move caused a serious response and accusations from the Democratic Party. Trump's opponents accused him of „occupying“ on the national holiday for personal purposes, as the event superseded the official and bipartisan “America 250“ commission created by Congress a decade ago.
Immediately after Trump's lengthy speech, a pyrotechnic show began over Washington, D.C., billed by the administration as the largest fireworks display in U.S. history. The program included the record-breaking lighting of 850,000 individual fireworks over nearly 40 minutes, breaking the traditional 18-minute format to allow time for the smoke clouds over the capital to dissipate.
Sources: BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CBC News.