In many ways, Saturday was a typical July 4 holiday in the United States.The country marked the anniversary of its Declaration of Independence with hotdog-eating contests, parades, fireworks and baseball games.But this Independence Day was different, not least because it marked the country’s semiquincentennial: the 250th year since the US’s founding.It also was one of the most politically charged Independence Day celebrations in recent memory.President Donald Trump is expected to speak this evening from the National Mall in Washington, DC, right before what has been billed as the “world’s largest fireworks display”.More than 850,000 fireworks are expected to launch from barges in the Potomac River, lighting up the sky above the capital.But while Independence Day festivities have long been billed as non-partisan events, Trump has pledged to make the night’s celebration “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all”.The event comes as Trump’s Republican Party seeks to defend its control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, with a heated primary season already under way.Trump’s involvement in the semiquincentennial has long been controversial.On January 29, 2025 — just nine days into his second term as president — Trump issued an executive order establishing a White House task force to oversee celebrations for the 250th anniversary. Trump named himself its chair.That task force would eventually set the groundwork for Freedom 250, a public-private partnership that organised some of the biggest events of the semiquincentennial, including the Great American State Fair on the Nat …
