The US turns 250 on Saturday—a landmark independence anniversary that coincides with a time of deep national division and a president determined to seize the festive center stage.
The independence celebration falls in the midst of a blistering heatwave that has left approximately 160 million Americans under major or extreme heat warnings, disrupting planned parades and block parties across much of the country.
However, the scorching temperatures have done little to dissuade President Donald Trump, who has gone to considerable pains to ensure the event becomes mostly a celebration of himself.
On Saturday evening, Trump will stage a massive campaign-style political event on the National Mall in Washington, complete with roaring military flyovers and what he calls the world’s largest fireworks show.
“It’s going to be approximately 107 degrees (41°C) out, and I’m going to go, and I’m going to make a really long speech—just to show that I can do anything,” he said earlier.
Late Friday, the president paid a visit to Mount Rushmore National Monument to deliver an address in front of the massive granite heads of four great predecessors.
While praising American exceptionalism and former presidents, he claimed that the American identity was “under renewed attack.”
Taking aim at domestic “radicals and extremists,” he claimed that there was “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.”
It is a topic that Trump has repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks, as the Democratic Party’s anti-establishment wing has won a succession of US primaries.
The president has portrayed the growth of the left ahead of the November midterm elections as “communists” on the rampage, posing a significant “threat” to the country.
On Friday, Trump said that in recent years, attempts had been made to “beat the American spirit out of us, alienate us from our history.”
While his words went short of the more violent anti-immigrant rhetoric he has used in previous addresses, the overall meaning was obvious.
“You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built,” he said.
The setting of Trump’s speech seemed appropriate for a president who considers himself one of the greats.
Trump fans have even proposed legislation to have his likeness etched alongside that of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
The 250th anniversary celebrations in the United States are a time for reflection and celebration.
Despite a history of triumphs and tragedies, slavery and freedom, and civil war and world wars, surveys show a divided nation about its future.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 61 percent of Americans believe the country is not living up to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence, though opinions vary.
“There are too many people that hate on each other and steal from each other. They don’t love each other,” said Los Angeles-based artist Johnny Presley.
“I’m sick of the way this country treats people. I’m sick of the way this country treats its foreign neighbors,” he added. “I’m sick of a lot of damn things.”
Others, such as American-Iranian schoolteacher Karisa Tavassoli in Atlanta, believe that the fundamentals of the American ideal remain relevant.
“I have safety, I have freedom of speech, I have freedom of religion, I can wear whatever I want as a woman,” she told AFP.
“There are many flaws here, but we have something very special that’s worthy of protecting,” she added.
Alonzo Coby, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, is happy for the opportunity to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary.
“But I want people to remember that Native Americans have been here a lot longer than 250 years,” he said.
