WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump formally kicked off celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary on Wednesday night by working to get the country excited again — about himself.
The president hosted a rally on Washington's National Mall, including a series of flyovers by stealth bombers, music from military bands, and Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA.”
“There has never been anything like the United States of America, and together we are making it bigger and better and stronger and far more exceptional than ever before,” Trump said. He said he'd restored the country to greatness, proclaiming, ”Nobody's laughing at us anymore."
The event comes as Trump works to convince Americans ahead of critical November midterm elections that he's put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen in the wake of an interim deal to end the war with Tehran.
It launches weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding as part of “The Great American State Fair” on the mall, the national park that stretches from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.
But Trump’s appearance was only announced after several musicians — including Young MC, Martina McBride and the Commodores — canceled their concerts because of concerns the event had become politicized.
Instead, among those addressing the crowd was Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who slammed the musicians who backed out. He called Trump “the greatest president that’s ever existed in this country since George Washington.”
The lawn was almost full but empty spaces remained. From the stage, Trump could likely to see the neon colors of the giant Ferris wheel erected in front of the Capitol.
Attendees included Karen and Brian Ontrap, who drove 500-plus miles from northwest Ohio with their children.
They planned the trip in January to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary and, for some in the group, see Washington for the first time.
Standing in the shade near the stage before the president spoke, Karen Ontrap said the pair support the president “100%.” They were among the early arrivals to the section of the National Mall that was cordoned off, with a concert-style stage decked in U.S. flags at one end and a mock White House exterior at the other.
Organizers distributed rectangular cardboard American flags that some attendees used for shade.
On the menu for the crowd: burgers, sausages and turkey legs. The program felt a lot like a summer concert, expect for the variety of American flag-themed outfits, from overalls to skirts to hats. There were also plenty of “Make America Great Again” hats.
Trump is pressing the case that he's made America better
Trump has struggled to deliver the presidency that he advertised to voters — causing his approval rating to dwell at a low 37%, according to the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling.
Democrats say his botched repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and the resulting algae outbreak are a sign that he’s spending taxpayer money on vanity projects instead of the nation's legacy.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said the Trump-affiliated group organizing the 250th anniversary was selling access to special interests and redrafting the nation's founding to the president's liking, based on documents he presented at a congressional hearing earlier this year.
“It should be about bringing us together,” Huffman said. “He's trying to make this 250th celebration all about him.”
Trump’s fondness for showmanship has not been a match for public anxiety about his presidency. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership, with favorability at 40% on immigration and 34% on Iran.
“It’s clear that Trump’s preoccupations in his second term — from Iran to the Washington reflecting pool — are not those of most members of his base, let alone other Americans,” said Daniel Treisman, a politics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “That explains his unusually low approval ratings.”
Trump's rallies can only help so much without improvements on inflation
Inflation is still higher than what Trump inherited and it has been outpacing wage growth. The budget deficit remains on a path upward that keeps interest rates high. Investments in artificial intelligence are driving growth, but they come with fears of middle-class job losses such that the construction of data centers needed for America’s tech economy have become controversial politically.
Trump has fueled dramas over tariffs, NATO, immigration, ownership of Greenland and his own renovations of iconic buildings and monuments in Washington — generating a flood of controversy that has pushed things the administration sees as accomplishments — such as the capture of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro — off the public radar.
Joe and Natalie Cox took the Washington area's subway from nearby Arlington, Virginia, “out of curiosity and to mark an historic occasion,” Joe said.
Joe Cox, a retired Army officer and military contractor, and Natalie, who worked for 30 years at the Red Cross, suggested the events planned for Washington were a time for the country to come together.
“It feels like a new spirit of unity,” Natalie Cox said.
Still, Trump was the main attraction for others. Jacob Wankasky and his family, traveling from Buffalo, New York, peeled off a day early from their trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, when he and his wife, Jennifer, realized they could see Trump before their planned visit Thursday to the State Fair with their children, ages 4 and 6.
“It’s a once in a lifetime chance,” Jacob Wankasky said as the Marine Corps Band played “Stars and Stripes Forever” as part of the runup to Trump's speech.
In a bright red “America Is Back” ballcap, the 42-year-old antique mall owner, said Trump’s return to the White House was a relief in a time of “insanity.”
