Washington – With U.S. fighter jets flying overhead, President Donald Trump praised the military and reveled in a show of pomp and patriotism on Thursday in a celebration of Independence Day that critics accused him of turning into a political event.
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Trump, a Republican who was inspired to stage the flashy affair after seeing a similar display in France, dismissed concerns ahead of the ceremony about the expense and militaristic overtones of the event outside the 97-year-old Lincoln Memorial, a symbol of national unity.
“Our nation is stronger today than it ever was before. It is its strongest now,” Trump said from a platform in front of the famous memorial, echoing a theme he uses at campaign rallies.
Flanked by Bradley fighting vehicles, Trump otherwise steered clear of divisive political rhetoric, in a departure from the majority of his speeches. At times, an enthusiastic crowd could be heard chanting: “USA! USA! USA!”
Trump, 73, praised American military might despite having himself avoided the draft during the Vietnam War with bone spurs in his feet. With well-planned choreography, he told stories about each military branch before separate, dramatic flyovers of their respective military aircraft.
“We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag: the brave men and women of the United States military,” Trump said. “For over 65 years, no enemy Air Force has managed to kill a single American soldier. Because the skies belong to the United States of America.”
Not all the choreography appeared to go off as planned.
A flyover by Air Force One, which Trump had teased earlier in the day on Twitter, occurred unannounced and without fanfare. But a low and spectacular flyover by six F-18s known as the “Blue Angels” at the conclusion of Trump’s speech thrilled the crowd. Some people shouted “Four More Years!” in support of the president.
Trump paid tribute to the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two agencies that have played leading roles in carrying out his tough immigration policies.
He cited as great Americans both Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, African-Americans who campaigned for the abolition of slavery more than 100 years ago. That praise could draw criticism as Trump’s administration in May decided to keep Tubman’s image off the $20 bill. He previously raised doubts about his knowledge of Douglass by speaking of the former slave in the present tense as ”somebody who’s done an amazing job.”
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, WORRIES ABOUT CROWDS
Earlier in the day thousands of supporters wearing Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats, along with opponents questioning the cost of the event, poured into the U.S. capital despite scorching temperatures and intermittent rain, while a diapered “Baby Trump” balloon sat next to a banner calling Trump a traitor.
Protesters burned a U.S. flag in front of the White House.
Ahead of the speech, Democrats accused the president of staging an out-of-place campaign rally, aware he has a history of veering off script with sharp partisan attacks even at events that are not meant to be overtly political.
Trump supporters and opponents carried American flags and wore red, white and blue outfits.
“I think what Trump’s doing with the tanks, all the flyovers, I think it’s great,” said Brandon Lawrence, his face painted with the colors of the American flag.
Some at the White House had worried about the crowd size, according to an administration official.
In January 2017 Trump fumed about reports that the crowd at his inauguration ceremony in front of the Capitol was smaller than it was for President Barack Obama.
Perhaps with the crowd size in mind, Trump sent out tweets urging people to attend and saying the event would be “one of the biggest celebrations in the history of our Country.” As it happened, the crowd lined both sides of the reflecting pool in front of the memorial, and Trump later called it a “great crowd.”
Opponents were not impressed.
“This is costing us millions and millions of dollars. We the taxpayers are paying for it, for Donald Trump to use our military as a prop. And that’s just not right,” said Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women-led peace group Code Pink, before the event.
Republican political groups were given prime tickets for Trump’s speech, and the Washington Post reported that the U.S. National Park Service diverted $2.5 million in park entrance fees to help pay for the event.
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in with criticism: “This is what authoritarians do: @realDonaldTrump is taking $2.5 million away from our National Park Service to glorify himself with a spectacle of military tanks rolling through Washington,” he wrote in a tweet.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, leading in opinion polls in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said in Iowa: “Donald Trump, I believe, is incapable of celebrating what makes America great, because I don’t think he gets it.”
Trump played down the expense.
“The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel,” he posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats. Nice!” Andrews is the name of a nearby military base.
The July 4th holiday celebrates the U.S. founders’ declaring independence from Britain in 1776.
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I enjoyed the festivities very much, as well as the Army band, and the flyovers; I only wish that at the end, they had played and sung Irving Berlin’s “G-d Bless America”, instead of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Unlike Nike and Colin Kaepernick our president is a proud American.
MAGA!!!!!
He did not say he was saluting the military. He said he was saluting America.
Reuters reports “but not everyone was impressed”; and then proceeds to name some anti-war wacko from a peace group (which peace group would like to see a public display of weapons?) And Bernie, whi would love for us to just give our weapons to the USSR (no mistake there, he’d love for Putin to retake all the countries previously under thel Russian banner) and the USA become a vassal state of theirs! And lastly, Bernie who’s the main challenger to trump and would find fault with Trump if he gave away all his $Billions to a children’s charity! Great reporting Reuters!
Another reuters fake news article .
This was a classy job and apolitical . Trump acted very presidential. Too boring for most of us . But he did not do anything to make this about him.
re the cost, what’s 2.5m for the govt who wastes Trillons on every stupidity out there ? There is plenty spent on patriotism and pride. Since when do dems care so much about that? They are full of hot air
The truth is, it irkes them to see a man of the people . It irkes then to see him do anything that can somehow lead to a 2020 victory. They dint want to see the president succeed .
Vote trump 2020! Keep America great
Didn’t watch it but it looks like it was well attended. The costs are the costs and there is no transparency but it’s not going to bankrupt the country.
Perfectly natural for a man who ran to answer the call of duty to his country and risked his life in combat along side his peers like Trump did to honor his fallen comrade.
He divided the country to make this parade. If you are not a Rep you cannot go! Not right! He sold out his hotel rooms $900 to 4,000 a night! Wrong! He was supposed to give all that up!! Look up the words to his speech! Then you can have a good laugh! I did not know they had planes during the civil war! According to Trump they did!
The best part of the event was the Trump speech when here reveled the closely guarded secret that the Americans took back the airports from the British in 1781. The Deep State has kept that hidden from us.
this is what having a REAL American president is like unlike having a foreigner from 2009-Jan 19th 2017 having the reigns and the Dems accuse Trump of being a foreign agent?
Regarding Trump’s speech, he made reference to fighting the Germans (Nazis), several times during World War Two; at one point quoted a GI during the Battle of the Bulge, who referred to the German soldiers, as “those poor bastards”. er, Regarding the Pacific War, Trump mentioned Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor, and also referenced Gen. Doolitte’s B-26 raid. However, not once did he mention that we were fighting the Japanese, as he didn’t want to offend his friend, Shinzo Abe. He did refer to them as “the enemy”, but did not identify who that enemy was. Another flub in the speech, was when Trump stated that “no American soldier has been killed by an enemy Air Force in over 65 years”. One should tell that to the families of the 31 American service members who were killed, when their reconnaissance aircraft was shot down in 1969, by a North Korean MIG, 31 miles off the North Korean coast. Do Trump’s speech writers ever check the speeches which they give to Trump for historical accuracy, prior to him reading them?
Idiot trumpf said that our Revolutionary War soldiers ‘secured the airfields’ during that war. 1775-1783. What a moron he is.
Its nice to see the right wing on the march in the USA with the support of the ‘frum’ alt-yidden. Seems nothing was learned by them after the great tragedy and suffering of the Churban. But its OK- trump’s a racist like them so its OK.
Loved him claiming the Continental Army (named after George Washington???) saw the flag over Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. I guess they had a time machine at their airport.
No wonder so many unEDUCATED ARCHIE types love the guy. He makes then look positively intelligent.
Trump did not specifically mentione Japan, when he spoke about the battle of Guadalcanal, General Doolittle’s raid, flying B-25’s off an aircraft carrier, or Pearl Harbor. He stated “the enemy” one time, but was not specific, as he was with Germany and the Nazis; was he afraid of offending his friend Shinzo Abe. Also, his speech writers were wrong when they wrote in his speech “no American soldier has been killed by an enemy air force in over 65 years”. 50 years ago, an unarmed American reconnaissance aircraft, flying in international waters, thirty one miles off the coast of North Korea, was shot down by a North Korean MIG. Over thirty Americans were killed.
By all accounts it went well. Cool.
I haven’t been this proud to be an American since probably around 9/11
To Archy: I have an additional comment about your meshpucha, Trump. When he arrived at Osan Air Force Base, in South Korea, a few days ago, he deliberately introduced Ivanka in front of thousands of airmen. He knew what their reaction would be, but seemed to delight, when they engaged in wolf whistles. He qvelled, with that silly smirk. Then, with Secretary of State Pompeo present, he actually compared Pompeo and Ivanka, when he stated “Beauty and the Beast”. Do you really think that was appropriate?