US Marks 250th Birthday as Storms Disrupt Festivities
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- Trump delivered a delayed speech on the National Mall declaring 'the American dream is back' and calling the moment 'the dawn of the golden age of America,' finishing just before midnight after a thunderstorm forced evacuation of the crowd.
- The National Mall celebration was delayed when a thunderstorm forced an evacuation; the fireworks finale concluded at about 01:00 local time as light rain began, with the small crowd on Capitol Hill quickly heading for the exits.
- Trump faced criticism for politicizing the milestone, having launched Freedom 250, a privately funded events committee that competed with the bipartisan America 250 commission established by Congress.
- About 400 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front marched in uniform with US flags near the Capitol and Union Station in Washington DC.
- Extreme heat hit the East Coast with Washington DC at 100F (37C) and New Jersey at 106F (41C), while about 750,000 properties across seven states lost power due to severe weather with winds exceeding 60mph.
- Joey Chestnut won his 18th Nathan's hot dog eating contest title in New York, consuming 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes; Miki Sudo won the women's competition for the 12th time.
- All four living former presidents (Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton) issued messages, with Clinton noting 'deep division' and 'serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself.'
Why it matters: The 250th birthday was meant to be unifying, yet Trump's 'golden age' speech, 400 Patriot Front marchers near the Capitol, and Clinton's warning of 'serious threats to our democracy' laid bare the divisions the milestone was meant to transcend. The 750,000 power outages and 106F heat added a climate-volatility backdrop.
