President praises America's heritage
WASHINGTON — It was a setting tailor-made for President Donald Trump to launch into a partisan address, with a VIP crowd in front of him that included Republican donors and a display of military armor and aircraft that he had personally ordered for a “Salute to America” on the National Mall.
But during the Fourth of July extravaganza, the president, speaking amid occasional rain, diverged from his typical self-aggrandizing speaking style and instead turned his praise toward the military and ordinary Americans who have contributed to the country’s advancement.
“As we gather this evening in the joy of freedom, we remember that all share a truly extraordinary heritage,” Trump said from the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial, where rain had drenched and scattered some of those gathered. “Together, we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told — the story of America. It is the epic tale of a great nation whose people have risked everything for what they know is right and what they know is true.”
The event was clouded in controversy, in part because of the fear that the president was inserting himself into a typically nonpolitical event and planning to use a taxpayer-funded celebration of military power to bolster his own political prospects.
But Trump largely steered clear of rank partisanship and instead spoke of the history of America’s founding while reveling in the displays of military might from the U.S. armed forces.
He introduced the five branches of the military as aircraft from the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force flew overhead. Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles were also stationed on the National Mall, as a B-2 bomber and F-22 fighter jets flew overhead.
The event ended with a flyover by the Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatics team.
For months, the president had taken special interest in the event, receiving regular briefings and requesting specific features, from tanks to Air Force One.
Before the address, heavy rain drenched much of Washington, leaving many attendees on the Mall soaked or scrambling to find shelter.
During Trump’s opening remarks, he specifically referred to several people in the crowd — including an astronaut, a nun, a hurricane volunteer, a 1960s civil rights activist and others — telling stories of individual heroism.
“Americans love our freedom and no one will ever take it away from us,” he said. “For Americans, nothing is impossible.”
The president namechecked the women’s suffrage movement and the civil rights movement, referring to several prominent American historical figures.
“In 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood here on these very steps and called on our nation to live out the true meaning of its creed and let freedom ring for every citizen all across our land,” he said. “America’s fearless resolve has inspired heroes who defined our national character from George Washington, John Adams and Betsy Ross to … the great Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Douglas Macarthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Jackie Robinson and, of course, John Glenn.”
The president’s reference to Betsy Ross was the closest he came to offering political red meat to his base. Ross, who created the first American flag, became the subject of controversy this week after Nike halted the sale and production of sneakers sporting the Betsy Ross flag. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick — a Nike spokesman — told the company the design was offensive, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Conservatives have rallied to Ross’ defense in recent days.
In one exception to his nonpolitical remarks, the president vowed that “very soon, we will plant the American flag on Mars,” actually a distant goal not likely to be achieved until late in the 2020s, if then.
Trump spoke to a crowd that was divided between a VIP section for supporters and donors near the stage and an area for the general public held at bay by chain-link fences far away. All together, thousands of people gathered to witness flyovers by military aircraft, musical performances and a 35-minute fireworks show.
The west front of the Capitol grounds, near the area of a planned concert, was evacuated after 5 p.m. due to severe weather, said District of Columbia police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The area near the Lincoln Memorial was not evacuated at the time.
In a city where Trump garnered less than 5 percent of the vote in 2016 — and where crowds protesting the day after his inauguration dwarfed his inaugural turnout — Trump also faced demonstrations against his appearance on the National Mall, including a giant inflatable “Baby Trump” set up by the activist group Codepink.
Aides to the crowdobsessed Trump fretted about the prospect of empty seats at his event, said a person familiar with the planning. Aides scrambled in recent days to distribute tickets and mobilize the Trump and GOP social media accounts to encourage participation for an event hastily arranged.
Many who filed into the sprawling VIP section said they got their free tickets from members of Congress or from friends or neighbors who couldn’t use theirs. Outside that zone, a diverse mix of visitors, locals, veterans, tour groups, immigrant families and more milled about, some drawn by Trump, some by curiosity, some by the holiday’s regular activities along the Mall.
Protesters earlier made their voices heard in sweltering heat by the Washington Monument, along the traditional parade route and elsewhere.
“Even though everybody has different opinions,” said Kevin Malton, a Trump supporter from Middlesboro, Kentucky, “everybody’s getting along.”