USA celebrates July 4th, Trump throws his own Independence Day party

On the one hand America250the institutional and bipartisan organization established by Congress in 2016 and funded with $150 million in federal funds; on the other Freedom 250the powerful machine financed by private donations and created by the tycoon to celebrate the historic anniversary in his own way. The strange overlap would have confused, according to the Washington Post, both donors and artists, many of whom have announced their withdrawal from the lineups of the “Freedom 250” events after discovering their non-bipartisan nature.

On Mt Rushmore la Freedom 250 del tycoon

The president landed in South Dakota for the highly armored “Freedom 250 Rushmore Fireworks Celebration“. The White House has in fact obtained the restoration of the fireworks display above the sculpted faces of the four presidents at Mount Rushmore, which has been banned for five years due to the high risk of fires in the Black Hills. Only 4,800 citizens chosen by lot from over 103,000 candidates are present at the event, protected by imposing security measures. Before the launch of the fireworks at 10pm (5am on July 4th in Italy), the Trump’s keynote speechpresented by official channels as “the supreme homage to the leaders who sculpted the American experiment”.

Heat emergency challenge in the main event in Washington

But it is also the day of ‘main event’ a Washington D.C., however threatened by the climate emergency that is overwhelming the USA: according to meteorologists, this first weekend of July risks being the hottest in American history. A exceptional ‘heat dome’ (heat dome) is sweeping over half the country, dragging temperatures between the Midwest and East Coast to peaks between 39 and 42 °Cwith over 300 seasonal heat records ready to be broken. Maximum temperatures of 42 °C are estimated in the capital, a value that would shatter the record of 37.8 °C recorded in 2019. Despite the severe health bulletins that urge caution, the president decided to openly defy the weather warning: “It’s going to be about 42 degrees and I’m going to give a really long speech, just to show that I can do anything,” he said as he launched his “Salute to America 250 Celebration.”

Despite the suffocating heat, the National Mall is therefore preparing to welcome over a million visitors faithful to the Fourth of July ritesthe key celebration that has united the country since 1776 between patriotic parades and traditional barbecues based on hot dogs and hamburgers.

The quest for the record and the stop at the World Championships

After the “very long speech” promised by Trump at 9.45pm (3.45am Italian time), the official attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records. Freedom 250 has in fact commissioned a project from the Pyrotecnico company colossal 40-minute wall of fire over the Potomac River: a deployment of 860,000 fireworks, a volume one hundred times higher than normal, designed to beat the world record set in 2016 by the Philippine megachurch Iglesia Ni Cristo (810,904 fireworks). THE’anticipation for the celebrations is so all-encompassing that it will even stop the football World Cup: FIFA has in fact remodeled the day’s calendar, interrupting the matches immediately after the 5pm round of 16 match in Philadelphia between France and Paraguay, so as to leave room for the great national night.

In the rest of the country, the heat wave is imposing drastic countermeasures. Right at Philadelphiawhere the holiday takes on a solemn significance since both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed there, the authorities have shortened the route of the historic parade. Nashville activated extraordinary distributions of water for the homeless, while New York will open cooling centers for the first time to cope with the expected 38°C. In the Big Apple the pressure on public safety will be exceptional: in addition to the institutional celebrations and the naval parade of the International Naval Review – which will see historic boats and warships sent by 32 allied nations in the wake of Operation Sail of 1976 parade through the port – the city is closed to Madison Square Garden for the exclusive wedding of the year between the pop star Taylor Swift and the NFL champion Travis Kelce.

America250, the neutral alternative to Trump’s monopoly

To ensure a neutral alternative to the monopolization of the White House, the bipartisan organization America250 will concentrate its forces outside the capital. A time capsule will be buried at the National Historical Park in Philadelphia and will remain sealed until 2276, with the aim of handing down an authentic portrait of the nation to posterity. On the opposite coast, in Los Angeles, 50,000 people are expected at the Memorial Coliseum for the big America’s Block Party concert. Meanwhile, in Times Square, the famous New Year’s Eve sphere will be the protagonist of an unprecedented event: it will fall eight consecutive times to mark the stroke of midnight in all the different time zones of the United States and its territories. The very long summer of Trump’s 250th anniversary will continue until Augustfirst with the Patriotic Games dedicated to the best high school athletes in the country (from 9 to 11 August), and finally with the spectacular city circuit of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, the car race strongly desired by the president through the avenues and historical monuments of Washington on 22 and 23 August.