On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the United States, American President Donald Trump hailed Saturday as "one of the most joyful and glorious events of all time", while taking advantage of the event to renew his attacks against his opponents, described as communists, during a speech delayed by stormy weather in Washington.

Published on: 07/05/2026 - 07:28 Modified on: 07/05/2026 - 09:10

To display this YouTube content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.

An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.

The capricious weather will not have got the better of Donald Trump. Saturday July 4, several hours late, the American president celebrated the 250th anniversary of the United States in his own way in a nationalist and offensive speech for his opponents whom he described as communists.

At the start of the evening, threats of thunderstorms near the American capital forced the authorities to evacuate the National Mall, a large green esplanade in the heart of the American capital and the main location of the festivities, where Donald Trump later gave his speech.

While the American president had promised a huge political gathering to leave his mark on the national celebrations, the 80-year-old Republican largely stuck to a more traditional patriotic speech.

Also read: Washington or “Trumptown”: the temptation of the architectural cult of personality

“For two and a half centuries, our American republic has embodied the crowning achievement of human history,” the president declared before tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall.

On stage, he also paid tribute to veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

"Our soldiers did not fight against communism on battlefields around the world for this threat to resurface right here in America. We will not let that happen," he said.

“A cancer that must be eradicated”

Donald Trump has been hammering home this theme of late, in the run-up to the US mid-term elections in November, as the Democratic Party has enjoyed a series of victories in US primaries. “It’s like a cancer, it must be eradicated,” he added.

The US leader also used his speech to boast about recent military campaigns against Iran and Venezuela, saying Washington had "annihilated" Tehran's army.

“We love Trump, we loved his speech,” said Richard Sullivan, 70, who came from Virginia with his wife Nancy and wore a “Freedom 250” T-shirt.

“He retraced our great history and addressed a few words to the veterans present here. He made us proud to be Americans.” A huge fireworks display was set off after the speech; the largest in the world had promised Donald Trump: 850,000 rockets for 40 minutes.

Also read: 250 years of independence of the United States: why France relied on the American Revolution

Historic warmth in the capital

Americans braved a scorching heatwave in eastern cities to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.

Temperatures soared to 39.4°C in the capital, a historic record for the 4th of July. In Washington, the weather caused confusion during the event. Tensions erupted after the evacuation order due to the storm, when some refused to leave or tried to force their way back to their places.

Trump, however, insisted on sticking to his speech, telling Fox News that if the veterans of the World War II landings had been able to brave the bad weather, he could too.

“To endure a little heat is nothing compared to the sacrifices made by so many people to give us this freedom in this great country,” said Randy Cole, 62, a retired civil servant who came to attend the festivities in Washington.

Yet Trump's determination to place himself and his political image at the center of the 250th anniversary celebrations has highlighted the deep divisions caused by his second term.

Those divisions were on full display Saturday near the Capitol in Washington, where masked men — some waving Confederate flags, others displaying logos of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group — gathered to chant “Reclaim America!” (“Let’s take America back!”).

For Americans, this 250th anniversary is an opportunity for reflection as well as celebration. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 61 percent of the population believed the United States was failing to live up to the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

With AFP

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.