Mount Rushmore to the Mall, Trump praises America's 250th − and himself

WASHINGTON − The midnight fireworks display on the National Mall on July 4 was one for the history books.

So was President Donald Trump's speech, delayed but not deterred by a record-breaking hot and stormy night.

While his 40-minute address featured a display on stage of historic U.S. flags and guest appearances by heroic aging veterans and the astronauts of Artemis II, it was also more partisan in tone than his predecessors' remarks keynoting the milestones of the Declaration of Independence. His celebratory words marking its 250th anniversary included not only the traditional paeans to the Founders but also a dose of personal grievance, plus soaring praise for his own achievements.

He said he was determined to show up − "an evening for the ages" − even after a thunderstorm forced the crowd to evacuate for a time, then return.

"We never had the American dream like we have it now," he declared to a cheering audience, saying military recruitment was up and the Iranian navy had been destroyed in a flash. "America is a nation of winners, and today America is winning again and back like never before. America is back."

The trio of major speeches that Trump delivered surrounding the Fourth of July both reflected and reinforced the nation's current sharp divide. That is, the divide between those who believe he is one of the best presidents in history and those who view him as one of the worst.

Former President Bill Clinton, for one, issued a somber written statement at midday that both hailed the anniversary and warned about the course "the people in charge" have set for the country. "Today, we celebrate this milestone amid another period of deep division, renewed questions about America's future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to democracy itself," he said.

Trump was introduced on an elaborate, specially built stage by Lee Greenwood performing "God Bless the USA," which has become a patriotic anthem at conservative gatherings, and then "Hail to the Chief."

About the blaze of fireworks that followed him: Organizers said the display would break the Guiness World Record as the biggest in history.

From the Badlands to the National Mall

Trump started the series of speeches with the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, on July 1.

On July 3, he was next door in South Dakota, standing in the shadow Mount Rushmore.

And on July 4, he added a speech to what has for decades been a low-key concert-and-fireworks gathering for picnickers on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Trump's themes ranged past the classic accolades for those who signed the Declaration in 1776, a step that led to the nation's Revolutionary War and its independence.

Near the start of his remarks in both Dakotas, he reminded the audience of his electoral victories in those solidly red states. "By the way, we won big here; we won really big, each and every time," he said in South Dakota. Besides honoring Roosevelt, he said he had returned to North Dakota "because I won this state with the most votes in the history of the presidency."

He suggested he was too polite to note that he won it by more votes than Teddy Roosevelt.

In the speeches, Trump took credit for protecting the Second Amendment's right to bear arms "almost single-handedly." He hailed his economic record, not mentioning wide angst over the affordability of housing, healthcare and energy. He noted in particular the rising stock market. "Everyone's 401(k)s are at the highest number they've ever been," he said on the Mall.

He also repeatedly warned of what he called "a resurgence of the communist menace in our land," a reference to democratic socialist candidates whose support has been surging in Democratic primaries in New York, Colorado, Michigan and elsewhere. Republican strategists have welcomed those nominations as an opening for attack in a difficult election year.

"They said they're social Democrats," Trump said at the Roosevelt library. "Doesn't it sound pretty? They're actually communists."

He sounded more upbeat than most Republicans about the elections now just four months away.

"We can only lose the midterms, if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms, if we are foolish, stupid and unwise," he said at Mount Rushmore. "But if we terminate the filibuster as we should do and immediately vote for the Save America Act, then we will not lose an election for 100 years. We do that, we're not going to lose an election for 100 years."

Taken literally, he was forecasting a string of Republican victories until 2126 − which would be the 350th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The sesquarcentennial.

A familiar speech but marking an unusual occasion

The SAVE America Act is given little chance of clearing Congress, and Senate Republican leaders have been loath to heed Trump's call to eliminate the filibuster to make it easier. The proposal to tighten election laws would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when they register to vote and states to take more aggressive action to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

In many ways, the three were familiar Trump speeches. He alternated between prepared passages read from the teleprompters and stream-of-consciousness asides. The topics ranged from the unintended impact of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs − "they actually take away the muscle" − to the prospect of change in Cuba to the glories of the new Air Force One, gifted by Qatar.

He also touched on some sore points.

At the Mall, he praised the American protections for free speech, freedom of religion and equal justice under the law. "Although I wasn't treated that well," he added, a reference to his assertions that he had been unfairly targeted for investigation and prosecution.

He repeated his debunked claims that the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden was rigged.

"We rebuilt our military in my first term. We use it a little in our − actually, I should say third term, but I won't do that, because I don't want any controversy," he said to laughter.

What made the speeches notable was not their content but the occasion they marked.

For 200 years, on the notable birthdays of one of America's founding documents, Trump's predecessors have taken a more solemn tone. They made almost no mention of themselves and often cited the tasks the nation still faced.

As the Declaration's 100th anniversary approached in 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant opened the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia by touting the "superior merit" of the nation's industrial growth but also offering a word of caution. "While proud of what we have done," he said, "we regret that we have not done more."

At the 150th anniversary, in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge returned to Philadelphia, where the Declaration had been signed. "Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States," he said.

At the 200th, in 1976, President Gerald Ford, also speaking at Philadelphia's Independence Hall, called it "the fixed star of freedom."

A month earlier, counselor Robert Hartmann had discussed in a private White House memo what remarks the president should deliver.

"While they of necessity deal with political and economic principles and institutions, there should be no campaign code words or partisan insinuations whatsoever," he said. Ford took the advice. While he was in the middle of a roiling campaign against Jimmy Carter − one he would narrowly lose − Ford said nothing about the day's politics or his own administration's achievements.

"It is fitting that we ask ourselves hard questions even on a glorious day like today," he said. "Are the institutions under which we live working the way they should? Are the foundations laid in 1776 and 1789 still strong enough and sound enough to resist the tremors of our times? Are our God-given rights secure, our hard-won liberties protected?

"The very fact that we can ask these questions, that we can freely examine and criticize our society, is cause for confidence itself."

Happy 250th, America.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mount Rushmore to the Mall, Trump praises America's 250th − and himself

Reporting by Susan Page, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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