The United States is celebrating its 250th anniversary on Saturday, a historic milestone reached at a time of deep division for the country, with Donald Trump determined to claim the leading role in Washington.
The United States is celebrating its 250th anniversary on Saturday, a historic milestone reached at a time of deep division for the country, with Donald Trump determined to claim the leading role in Washington.
This particular “Independence Day,” 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, marking the break of thirteen colonies from the British Crown, coincides with a wave of sweltering heat in the eastern United States.
In Washington, temperatures are approaching 100°F (38°C), and combined with humid air, the heat index could reach around 109°F (43°C). The traditional July 4th parade scheduled for Saturday morning in the capital has been canceled.
It would take a lot more to upset the plans of the American president, who did everything to turn this U.S. anniversary into a celebration of himself, with flyovers and military bands playing patriotic music, American classics, and his own “playlist.”
Donald Trump is set to hold a political rally on Saturday night (from 1:45 AM GMT Sunday) that looks like an election campaign event on the massive green expanse of the National Mall, in the heart of the capital, before what he touts as the biggest fireworks display in the world – 850,000 rockets over 40 minutes!
“Despite the heat not being as strong as expected, the crowd in Washington is incredible,” he said on his Truth Social network.
All across the capital, many passersby were wearing clothing showing the colors or stars of the American flag.”A bit disappointing”
Patrick Thompson, a teacher from Alexandria near the capital, told AFP that he would celebrate the national holiday with his family with the traditional barbecue, but did not want to take his two teenage children to the official ceremonies in Washington.
“It’s great to experience this 250th anniversary,” he explains to AFP, but “why does it have to bear Trump’s mark?”
“The America I celebrate is not one of hate and polarization,” says Rajesh Mirchandani, of Indian origin, working in the communications sector, who became an American in February, “it’s one where warm, modest, and funny people still work together to build something better,” he adds.”Saying that it’s been 250 years and that people in this country still don’t live in true freedom is a bit disappointing,” says Melissa Pate, a psychotherapist from Atlanta (southeast), lamenting the “current political climate.”
A sign of the country’s divisions, masked men marched in the morning in Washington, some waving Confederate flags and others displaying the emblem of the Patriot Front supremacist movement, chanting “Take Back America!”
On the eve of the national holiday on Friday, at the foot of the iconic Mount Rushmore, Donald Trump stated, in a super-patriotic speech, that American identity was facing a “new assault” from “radicals and extremists.”
In New York, which is hosting a sailboat parade, Vice President JD Vance gave a speech on Saturday criticizing the detractors of the United States, who he says only see its “imperfections.”
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, who has often criticized Donald Trump’s immigration policies, in a message of “congratulations to all Americans,” praised “the hopes, sacrifices, and contributions of immigrants who have been part of this country’s history since the very beginning.”
King Charles III said on Saturday that he “has no doubt” that the United Kingdom and the United States will continue to uphold their “shared values,” in a message released for the occasion.
In Philadelphia, long lines formed early in front of the famous “Liberty Bell” and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.Concerts are also planned from Boston to Los Angeles.
As the country reflects on two and a half centuries of triumphs and tragedies, of slavery and freedom, of civil war and world wars, a recent Quinnipiac University poll shows that 61% of Americans believe the United States falls short of the ideals set out in the 1776 Declaration of Independence.
Elodie SOINARD with AFP offices in the United States
