Trump Uses 250th Anniversary of the USA for Political Rally in Washington

Late on Saturday evening, the National Mall had to be evacuated due to a severe weather warning. Thousands of visitors had to temporarily leave the festival grounds and crowded onto Pennsylvania Avenue. The evacuation was partly chaotic: some people tried to get to safety from the lightning, while others refused to leave the cordoned-off area and chanted "Trump, Trump" slogans. After around two hours, people were allowed back onto the grounds.

Severe Weather Forces Visitors to Flee

Trump had previously announced his appearance on his platform Truth Social as "the most spectacular of all Trump rallies." Shortly after the evacuation order, he posted that he would deliver his speech no matter what time it was, writing: "Gewitter bringen Glück." Indeed, Trump's speech, together with the subsequent fireworks, was delayed by more than an hour. Originally scheduled for 9:45 p.m. US Eastern Time, it was eventually to take place around 11 p.m. local time.

Trump Warns of Communist Threat

Trump, who said he wanted to "give a really long speech," "just to show that I can do anything," used the celebrations to point to what he views as the successes of his second term. The evening before, he had already warned at the Mount Rushmore national monument in a speech of an alleged "kommunistischen Bedrohung" in the United States. With this, he alluded to recent electoral victories by left-leaning Democratic politicians. In his address, Trump also declared that communism is among the greatest dangers to the country; his administration would fend off this threat in the spirit of the founding fathers and defend freedom.

During the celebrations, the president also honored several war veterans on stage. However, many Americans are weary of war, while the US government invokes the warrior ethos. Many people in the country are troubled above all by the Iran war. Trump is facing massive domestic political pressure, with his approval ratings having long been low.

The multi-week anniversary program includes religious events with predominantly conservative Christian speakers as well as sporting events, including combat sports competitions on the grounds of the White House on the occasion of Trump's 80th birthday. Critics accuse the organizers of spreading an overly religious version of US history with so-called "Freedom Trucks" and of ignoring topics such as slavery and racial injustice.

Criticism of the Instrumentalization of the Celebrations

The opposition Democrats accuse the president of using the 250th anniversary celebrations for a partisan spectacle ahead of the November congressional midterm elections. Observers see this as an increasing blending of official commemoration and campaign rally. In the past, US presidents had largely kept political distance during Independence Day celebrations.

The deep division of US society in the anniversary year was also made visible by a march of masked men near the Capitol. Hundreds of supporters of the far-right organization "Patriot Front," which is convinced of the superiority of white people, had traveled into the city by subway. As can be seen in images, the members of the group were mostly masked with white cloths and wore baseball caps with badges of the group. They chanted "Reclaim America!"

March of the Patriot Front

In addition, some of them waved Confederate flags — the flag of the slaveholding Southern states in the US Civil War (1861 to 1865), which is today regarded as a racist symbol. The police emphasized the right to freedom of expression and did not intervene. However, according to the police, no violent incidents were reported.

The celebrations in New York were accompanied by a ship parade on the occasion of "Sail250," with jets flying over the Statue of Liberty and a New York fire department ship sending up water fountains. In Washington, the "largest fireworks display in the world with 850,000 firecrackers" was expected on Saturday evening (local time). Trump had announced the spectacle in advance as "the largest fireworks display in the world."

Fireworks and Ship Parade in New York

Reporting on the events was broadcast on July 5, 2026, by, among others, Deutschlandfunk. Whether the speech could take place as planned was initially uncertain during the broadcast. In the end, Trump delivered his address before the assembled spectators — although the speech and the fireworks had been delayed by more than an hour.

Overall, the weekend around the 250th birthday of the United States made clear the political and social tensions in the country: while some wanted to observe the national holiday as a celebration of unity, others — from extremist groups to the president himself — used the stage for their own messages. The extreme heat and the severe weather did their part to throw the course of the celebrations into disarray several times.