Trump celebrates history in speech at US 250th anniversary ceremony

Trump took the stage on the National Mall around 11 p.m., a considerable delay compared to the scheduled start time for the ceremony. Just two musical numbers opened the event: tenor Christopher Macchio sang “God Bless America”, and Lee Greenwood then sang “God Bless the USA”.

At the beginning of the speech, the president thanked the public who remained around the White House to listen to him. Trump said that the organization “did the right thing” by asking people to disperse while there was a risk of lightning and that “even if there was only one person, at four in the morning”, he would give his speech.

“They estimated there were 375,000 people before, they had to leave, and now there are at least 150,000 people here. It’s crazy. I feel bad for the people who left and didn’t make it back, but you are very special people. And we live in a very special country. Thank you very much,” he said.

Trump carried historic flags in his speech

The speech continued, with praise for the country’s two and a half centuries of independence, the main point of the celebrations. “For 250 years, the United States of America has been the hope, the promise, the light and the glory among every nation in the world, across the entire planet. They try to be like us. No one can be like us,” Trump said.

The president also presented several historic flags to the public. One of them, from the time when the country’s independence was declared, in 1776. The flag has only 13 stars (the current one has 50) and 13 stripes, which represent the 13 states that rose up against the British.

“It’s real, it was there. And it waved triumphantly when the British waved the white flag of surrender at Yorktown. It was a huge surrender, no one imagined that would be possible,” Trump added.

The president also told the story of Sergeant William Harvey Carney, the first African-American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor – the country’s highest military honor, reserved only for those with feats of exceptional bravery. “He loved our country, he loved our flag,” said Trump, who also thanked the services of other veterans who took the stage.

Trump defended reform for midterm elections

The president interspersed these moments of historical exaltation with rally-like speeches, mainly against the Democrats and what he called a new threat of the advance of communism in the country.

Referring to recent victories by Democratic candidates in the primaries for November’s midterm elections, Trump reiterated his warnings. “We don’t want communists in our country. It’s never worked.”

The Republican also took advantage of the space to promote his electoral reform proposals. The measures are considered controversial because they make the requirements for voter registration and the voting process in federal elections much stricter, and are approved in Congress.

“America is back, and we want to maintain its greatness. We will achieve this by passing the ‘SAVE America’ Act, which means that every voter, everyone, absolutely everyone, will have to show identification and provide something called proof of citizenship. And there will be no voting by mail, except in a few cases,” he promised.

At the end of his speech, the president took the opportunity to praise the values ​​of patriotism and freedom which, according to Trump, are the backbone of the American spirit.

“There is no challenge that we Americans cannot overcome. There is no goal that we cannot achieve. There is nothing that Americans cannot do. We are proving it now. There is no impossible dream that cannot be achieved. And the greatest of those dreams began on the Fourth of July in 1776. A free people deserve a free country. It is a destiny that was written by God,” he concluded.