Trump kicks off America’s 250th anniversary celebrations with a tribute to himself at a campaign-style rally

For Donald Trump, there is no bigger star than Donald Trump. So when, citing politicization, one musician after another withdrew from the DC festival meant to open the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of independence, the U.S. president decided to replace the concerts with what he considered the best possible option: a rally led by himself on the National Mall — the monumental heart of the U.S. capital, these days draped in red, white and blue bunting — with which he kicked off 16 days of festivities culminating on July 4.

The event was a rally in the purest Trump style. Standing before his supporters, he used the occasion to turn the page after the recent setbacks — a shaky and widely criticized deal, even among Republicans, to end the war with Iran; inflation at its highest level in three years; polls putting his popularity at around 34% — and to vindicate his record. The rally was not his only prominent presence in these anniversary commemorations: his face also appears on all kinds of items, from commemorative coins and passports to annual national-park passes.

The president showed up at 8.52 pm local time on a stage decorated in the colors of the U.S. flag and bearing the slogan “Freedom 250” (the name of the organizing committee). He stood behind a bulletproof glass lectern and was flanked by the Marine Corps band. There were flyovers from some of the most modern aircraft in the U.S. fleet: four F-35s and a stealth B-2 bomber, the jewel of the U.S. Air Force.

Over the course of 28 minutes, before an audience of a few thousand people, he recycled the slogans and topics he repeats at each and every appearance before his supporters, or at events in the Oval Office. He didn’t need to be especially original. Those slogans were what his audience had come to hear. From the grand ballroom he is having built at the White House to his latest fixation, the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial — at one end of the Mall from which he spoke — which he has had renovated at a cost of more than $14 million, far beyond initial estimates, only to see it filled with algae a few days later.

“Tonight, as we stand on the edge of our 250th year of independence, I am thrilled to declare that America is back,” he proclaimed. He compared himself to the founding fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. “Just like those patriots of 1776, over the past 17 months, we have taken power back from the far off political class” he crowed, referring to his electoral victory over Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in November 2024.

“A short time ago we were a dead country. We were dead. Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world, we’re respected by everybody,” he proclaimed. Among his listed accomplishments were the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the end of diversity and equity policies in the federal government, the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” And, of course, that Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon” and that — he insists — “for the first time in 3,000 years, we are finally going to have peace in the Middle East.”

A devoted audience

His audience, many wearing the red caps of the Trump movement, dressed in U.S. flag colors and waving small flags, cheered him with applause and shouts. Whatever he spoke about — from the war with Iran to complaints about the Democratic opposition and promises that the economy is going to boom again — his statements drew enthusiastic responses from the audience.

Participants had waited two hours to see their president, after a program that starred two of Trump’s favorite musicians: the tenor Chris Macchio and the country singer Lee Greenwood, along with the Marine Corps band. In a celebration meant to commemorate the essence of American-ness, few picked up on the irony that the pieces they performed included Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” Umberto Tozzi’s “Gloria,” or Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.”

What the crowd lacked in numbers, it made up for in enthusiasm: a few thousand people, with large gaps at the sides of the area set up inside a park that stretches for two miles (three kilometers) and drew two million people for Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Washington DC, as the capital makes clear time and again, is not Trump territory: in the 2024 election, 90% of its voters marked the ballot for Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. Some attendees on Wednesday admitted they were almost there by chance: “We came on a four-day vacation and ended up here. It coincided. We arrived and found out about this. I want to see the president. I just want to see him, to see him in person,” said Steve Ramsey, a tourist from Illinois.

Months of tensions

The anniversary events marking the birth of the United States have been overshadowed by months of scandals and tensions. Two different entities have organized the commemoration: the America 250 Commission, created by Congress, and “Freedom 250,” linked to the Trump administration. The concert that was to take place on Wednesday was ultimately canceled after a trickle of announcements by many scheduled musicians — such as Young MC and Martina McBride — that they were withdrawing, for fear that the event would be politically charged. And the renovation of the reflecting pool, a few hundred meters from the stage from which the president spoke, has dominated headlines in recent weeks.

Wednesday’s rally also had its own controversy. The national anthem was performed by singer Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI director Kash Patel, amid accusations of favoritism.

Those who wanted more after the rally have something to look forward to. On July 4, Trump will close the commemorative festivities with another rally, a few yards from Wednesday’s. The next one, on the National Mall, will have the added appeal of a gigantic fireworks display.

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