{"id":140358,"date":"2026-07-05T05:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T05:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/140358\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T05:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T05:25:15","slug":"trump-commemorates-250th-us-independence-day-after-storms-force-evacuation-of-national-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/140358\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump commemorates 250th US Independence Day after storms force evacuation of National Mall"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a storm-related delay, US President Donald Trump took the stage on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Saturday night, local time, to deliver a campaign-style speech to mark the country’s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said he would have been willing to wait longer if necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There’s no way we can be deterred,” he said, shortly after taking the stage.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at the rally. (ABC News: Jonathan Erns)<\/p>\n

During the speech, Mr Trump honoured veterans, including several from World War II and one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

They appeared before flags that symbolised some of the most significant and challenging moments in American history, from the one that was draped over Abraham Lincoln’s casket to the one that flew on the plane piloted by the Wright Brothers.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Retired US Army colonel and Medal of Honor recipient Paris Davis salutes revolutionary-era American flags.\u00a0 (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n

The speech was followed by a spectacular fireworks display, featuring 850,000 fireworks.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Authorities allowed the crowd to return to an open field near the Washington Monument where Mr Trump was due to speak, after ordering a weather-related evacuation that forced spectators to shelter in nearby museums and government buildings for a few hours.<\/p>\n

\"Guests<\/p>\n

Donald Trump says the huge crowd was made up of 150,000 people. (AP: Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

Visitors had waited hours to get into the event, contending with stepped-up security and temperatures that reached 39 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n

The record-breaking heat wave forced the cancellation of several parades and other events in the area.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The sweltering conditions forced those celebrating to come up with sun-safe plans. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n

“It’s just part of the deal I signed up for,” said Glen Solander, 60, a software engineer visiting from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as he waited at a security checkpoint on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

White nationalist group arrives<\/p>\n

Other visitors included the white nationalist organisation Patriot Front.<\/p>\n

The group posted on social media that it had arrived in the capital, and hundreds of people wearing the group’s outfits travelled to the city on Metro trains serving the District of Columbia region.<\/p>\n

Local police said they had not received any reports of violence.<\/p>\n

Past presidents have generally avoided in-person appearances at July 4 celebrations, but Mr Trump has blurred the line between official commemoration and campaign-style politics.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration’s Freedom 250 group has largely sidelined a nonpartisan body set up in 2016 to handle the 250th anniversary and has fenced off much of the 2.4-km National Mall for a “Great American State Fair” featuring attractions such as a Ferris wheel alongside displays by conservative groups and defence contractors.<\/p>\n

Freedom 250 says the fair aims to showcase the people and innovations that make the US “the greatest nation on Earth.”<\/p>\n

Several Democratic-led states declined to send delegations, and many performers scheduled to appear dropped out, citing concerns about partisanship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Trump opened the event with a rally on June 24.<\/p>\n

Crowds were sparse at first but have swelled in recent days, forcing visitors to wait in entrance lines that stretched several blocks.<\/p>\n

Reuters\/AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a storm-related delay, US President Donald Trump took the stage on the National Mall in Washington, DC,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,24656,20935,10,11,438],"class_list":["post-140358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump","tag-donald-trump","tag-freedom-250","tag-independence-day","tag-potus","tag-president-of-the-united-states","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116865710500730948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}