Who ever let a spot of rain get in the way of a good time? Donald Trump’s July 4 festivities were delayed by several hours due to the threat of thunderstorms. On the National Mall, Secret Service agents did their darnedest to urge some of the President’s more avid supporters toward shelter: in the Blacksonian, the Commerce Department, the IRS. Many were reluctant, despite the blackening skies and flashes of lightning in the distance. “It’s not a debate, keep moving,” agents said. Confusion filtered through the crowd as to whether the night’s celebrations were canceled or merely delayed. Attendees milled aimlessly around the Washington Monument grounds, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “The metric system can’t measure freedom.”
It wasn’t until the first raindrops fell that many of those present took the agents seriously. After all, we are celebrating revolution, not compliance. “The venue was packed, we were ready to go,” an administration source says. That despite the triple-digit temperatures Washington faced at the tail-end of this week.
President Trump eventually took to the stage at 11:15 p.m., to a more depleted crowd. While waiting to come on, he was pictured watching himself on Fox News, creating a bizarre infinity mirror that is already one of the most iconic images of his presidency. The President was preceded, as ever, by his two pet singers. “Let the President hear you!” Christopher Macchio, an opera singer, implored the crowd, belting out “God Bless America.” Then came Lee Greenwood, singing “God Bless the USA.” Greenwood’s mic cut out as he tried to introduce the President at the end of his song. Trump was defiant about the prospect of the weather preventing him from speaking. “We want July 4, we’re not looking for July-something else,” he said, to whoops. The fireworks began about 20 seconds before midnight. Talk about timing.
In his remarks, Trump gave his own rendition of American history. “That was a big surrender, nobody thought that was possible,” he said, of the British surrender of Yorktown. The Civil War was “a very big, big deal at the time.” When he threatened to veer into red-meat stump speech territory, he self-corrected. “I don’t want any controversy,” Trump said stopping himself from referring to “our third term.” He nonetheless managed to slip in a dig about “sinking the entire Iranian navy” and brought up “approving the SAVE America Act.” That aside, Trump’s speech was State of the Union-y: he spent a good chunk of it highlighting military heroes who were present as they saluted a series of historic flags.
The President also pitched an optimistic view of America’s future. “We’re going to be going to Mars, very soon,” he said. “This is only the dawn of the golden age of America.”
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson takes issue with the British king rendering the military “independent of and superior to the Civil power.” Two and a half centuries later, residents of the capital and its environs were left in no doubt about the superiority of the military that beat the king’s. Fourth of July in Washington was largely soundtracked by the deafening thrum of aircraft cruising over the National Mall and up through the city. “Hot take: all these military flyovers are completely dystopian,” a liberal friend texted. Well, Lockheed Martin gets to celebrate the 250th too.
On the Mall, the Trump administration’s Freedom 250 organized the “Great American State Fair,” which was decently attended on Saturday. In the weeks leading up to the big day, media naysayers had been gloating about how sparsely attended the fair was, usually posting footage from before the 10 a.m. opening time or from a weekday morning. Others on the right responded with clips of a very well-attended FIFA Fan Zone during the US matches, which isn’t exactly the most pinpointed rebuttal. On stage at the fair, a speaker described how “your prayers alone were enough to put the right person in charge.” He then led the small crowd in prayer for good outcomes at the upcoming midterms. The distinctly revivalist atmosphere pushed a number of attendees toward a Budweiser bar, with a roof deck for watching the planes.
A lot of DC residents opted to host their own smaller gatherings, to watch the fireworks from afar, or ignore the ruckus on the Mall altogether. There were a couple of fringe protests smattered throughout the city; one from No Kings types in McPherson Square, another from a group of attention-seeking white supremacists at Union Station which far more people online chose to fixate on.
America’s 250th should be judged like any other big party. The success of a wedding, for instance, is ultimately binary: did the couple get married? If so, consider it a win and forget the small details that stopped it from being perfect. Despite the threat of the weather, the 250th was marked with fireworks and flyovers, on the correct day. Don’t worry about the rest.
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