Although delayed by thunderstorms, the president used the nation’s milestone day for personal and political celebrations. That’s new.
President Trump commemorates America’s 250th anniversary with Independence Day speech
President Donald Trump gave a late-night speech on the National Mall to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
WASHINGTON – The midnight fireworks display on the National Mall on July 4th was one that will go down in history.
So did President Donald Trump’s speech, delayed by record heat and a stormy night, but undaunted.
His 40-minute speech, which featured a historic U.S. flag on stage and guest appearances from heroic elderly veterans and Artemis II astronauts, had a more partisan tone than his predecessor’s speech, which centered around the milestones of the Declaration of Independence. His congratulations on the 250th anniversary included not only traditional odes to the founder, but also personal grievances, as well as soaring praise for his own accomplishments.
He said he was determined to attend “Eternal Night” even after a thunderstorm caused the crowd to temporarily evacuate and then return.
“We didn’t have the American Dream as we have it now,” he declared to a cheering audience, noting that military conscription increased and Iran’s navy was quickly decimated. “America is a nation of winners, and America is winning more and more today than ever before. America is back.”
President Trump’s three major speeches around Independence Day all reflected and reinforced the country’s current deep divisions. It’s a divide between those who believe he is one of the best presidents of all time and those who think he is one of the worst.
Former President Bill Clinton, for one, issued a solemn written statement at noon, praising the anniversary and warning about the course “those in charge” have set for the country. “Today, we celebrate this milestone at a time of renewed deep division, new questions about America’s future and role in the world, and serious threats to our institutions and democracy itself.”
President Trump was introduced on a special elaborate stage with Lee Greenwood performing “God Bless the USA” and “Long Live the Chiefs,” which have become patriotic songs at conservative rallies.
Regarding the fireworks that followed him: Organizers said the fireworks would break the Guinness World Record for being the largest ever.
From the Badlands to the National Mall
President Trump began a series of speeches on July 1 at the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.
On July 3, he was standing in the shade of Mount Rushmore next to South Dakota.
And on July 4, he added a speech to a low-key concert and fireworks gathering for picnickers on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for decades.
President Trump’s themes ranged beyond the classic honoring those who signed the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of 1776, a step that led to independence.
Near the beginning of his speech in both Dakotas, he reminded the audience of his electoral victories in these solidly red states. “We had a big win here, by the way. A really big win every time,” he said in South Dakota. In addition to praising Roosevelt, he said he returned to North Dakota “because he won this state by the most votes of any president in history.”
He suggested that it was too polite to point out that he won by more votes than Teddy Roosevelt.
In his speech, President Trump praised the United States for “almost single-handedly” defending the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. Although he praised his economic performance, he did not address broader concerns about housing, health care and energy affordability. He particularly focused on the rise in the stock market. “Everybody’s 401(k) numbers are at an all-time high,” he said at the mall.
He also repeatedly warned about what he called “a resurgence of the communist threat in our country,” referring to Democratic Socialist candidates who are seeing a surge in support in Democratic primaries in New York, Colorado, Michigan and elsewhere. Republican strategists have hailed the nominations as a springboard for attack in a difficult election year.
“They said they were social democrats,” Trump said at the Roosevelt Library. “Don’t you think it’s pretty? They’re actually communists.”
He sounded more optimistic than most Republicans about the election, which is just four months away.
“The only way we can lose the midterm elections is if we are stupid, stupid, and unsmart if we allow ourselves to lose the midterm elections,” he said on Mount Rushmore. “But if we end the filibuster, as we should, and immediately vote for the American Rescue Act, we will not lose an election for 100 years. We will not lose an election for 100 years.”
Taken literally, he predicted continued Republican victories until 2126, the 350th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
400th anniversary.
It was a familiar speech, but it was an unusual event.
The SAVE America Act has little chance of passing Congress, and Senate Republican leaders are unwilling to heed President Trump’s call to eliminate the filibuster and ease deliberation. Proposals to tighten election laws would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and states would take more aggressive steps to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
In many ways, all three were familiar Trump speeches. He alternated stream-of-consciousness reading with prepared sentences read from a teleprompter. Topics range from the unintended effects of the GLP-1 weight loss drug (“it actually takes away muscle”) to the prospects for change in Cuba and the glory of the new Air Force One gifted by Qatar.
I also touched on some painful points.
On the Mall, he praised America’s protections for free speech, freedom of religion and equal justice under the law. “I wasn’t treated very well,” he added, referring to his claims that he was unfairly targeted for investigation and prosecution.
He repeated debunked claims that the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden was fraudulent.
“We rebuilt the military in our first term. We should actually say it’s our third term, but we won’t because we don’t want to create any controversy,” he said, drawing laughter.
What made the speech remarkable was not its content, but the uniqueness of its setting.
For 200 years, President Trump’s predecessors have taken a more solemn stance on the notable birthday of one of America’s founding documents. They spoke little about themselves and more often about the challenges still facing the nation.
As the 100th anniversary of the Declaration approached in 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant held a Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia touting the “excellent benefits” of the nation’s industrial growth while also offering words of warning. “I’m proud of what we’ve done so far, but I regret not doing more,” he said.
In 1926, the 150th anniversary, President Calvin Coolidge returned to Philadelphia, where the Declaration was signed. “In the midst of conflicting interests, in the midst of the swell of partisan politics, all Americans can look to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States for solace and solace,” he said.
President Gerald Ford, speaking at the 200th anniversary in 1976, also at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, called it a “star of freedom.”
A month ago, adviser Robert Hartman was debating what the president should say in a private White House memo.
“It necessarily deals with political and economic principles and institutions, but there must be no campaign slogans or partisan innuendos,” he said. Ford took the advice. Ford, in the midst of a fierce campaign against Jimmy Carter that he would narrowly lose, said nothing about the politics of the day or the performance of his administration.
“Even on a glorious day like today, it is fitting that we ask ourselves tough questions,” he said. “Are the institutions we live in working as they should? Are the foundations laid in 1776 and 1789 still strong and sound enough to withstand the tremors of time? Are our God-given rights safe and our hard-won freedoms protected?
“The very fact that we can ask these questions and be free to examine and criticize our society is a cause for confidence.”
Congratulations on America’s 250th anniversary.
