Trump will break the half-century tradition of celebrating US Independence Day

President Donald Trump took on the organization of a celebration in honor of Independence Day on July 4 in Washington, DC, writes The The Washington Post.

Фото: Depositphotos

Trump ordered the fireworks from the central boulevard of Washington to the Potomac River, about 1 km from the traditional location. He also plans to speak in front of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in the city center.

The authorities note that it is not known how much the changes may cost, but the plans caused concern among the city authorities and some lawmakers.

The National Parks Service has been organizing fireworks for more than half a century, hundreds of thousands of Americans and tourists come to watch. This event was broadcast live on television from 1947 of the year, and from 1981 of the year was accompanied by a free concert on the West Lawn of the US Capitol with famous musicians and a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra.

The revised Independence Day plan is the culmination of Trump’s two-year attempts to create a major patriotic event focused on him and his supporters. Previously, Trump tried to arrange a military parade on the model of the Bastille Day in France. But the attempt was unsuccessful. Trump commissioned Interior Minister David Bernhardt three months ago to organize the event.

According to administration officials, Trump regularly holds briefings on preparations for the celebration of Independence Day in the capital. He himself takes an active part in planning the program of the holiday. The president even discussed the question whether fireworks should be launched from a barge on the Potomac River. The President has never been so keenly interested in holding Independence Day in the US capital.

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Rep. Betty McCollum is concerned that Trump may polarize the event, which is usually a unifying event for Americans.

“This is not about any one president. It's about how our nation came to be. Thanks to the resilient men and women. We are not talking about any one person, but about the people. And if the president tries to make it something else, I think it will disappoint and outrage the American public,” she says.

An official in the District of Columbia Mayor's Office, Muriel Bowser, said federal officials had reported potential changes to the city government for the July 4th celebration, but the logistics and cost of the amended format had not been finally determined.

The official said on the right of anonymity that the authorities are concerned about security issues and that if the celebration is postponed, people will be cut off from metro stations.

“We have a lot of people come to visit us on the Fourth of July. Logistically, all the details have been worked out over the past years. We don’t want to give up what works well,” he said.

According to Trump's former assistants, the idea of ​​the president to hold a celebration on July 4th was inspired by the Bastille Day celebration in France on 2017. He offered to hold a military parade in Washington and almost immediately suggested the types of tanks that he wanted to see on the street and airplanes in the sky.

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Later, this idea was replaced by a parade related to Veterans Day, and then completely failed in August last year, as the cost of a potential event increased sharply. Trump accused local officials of canceling the event.

Then, in February of this year, Trump announced on Twitter that Americans should "Mark the date!" July 4 and that "the main firework, the display and the progress of the beloved prescriber, me!".

Since then, there have been no public announcements, but federal officials have been working furiously to adjust the plans for the event, which has not changed for at least two decades.

It is not known whether a change in celebration will result in higher costs for taxpayers. The launch of fireworks last year cost about 250 000 dollars, and this figure does not include security costs, portable toilets and fencing. A DC official said that the city expects the federal government to pay for any new expenses that a change in celebration provides.

Changes in the plan of the event at Trump are justified by the fact that more people will be accommodated on the Potomac.

Trump occasionally saluted at his political events, including this week’s election rally in Panama City, Florida. The Trump administration is also taking steps to expand the celebration of fireworks elsewhere in the United States.

South Dakota Governor Christie Noah announced Tuesday that she had reached an agreement allowing the park service to resume the launch of fireworks on Mount Rushmore in 2020. This practice, which began in the 1998 year, ceased in the 2009 year after park employees discovered a high risk of a forest fire in the area.

Recently, no president has participated in the celebration of Independence Day on the central boulevard of the capital. American leaders usually make traditional appeals to Americans from the White House.

3 July 1987 President Ronald Reagan participated in the “Star Cheer to America” at the Jefferson Memorial, where he talked about economic success, but another salute was celebrated the next day, as usual.

Reagan’s discovery of the Economic Bill of Rights was held at 10 in the morning, attended by the Vice President, the Secretary of State and other members of the administration. The White House’s official diary rated the crowd at 10 000 people, although Reagan said that this figure was underestimated.

• Let us remind you that on July 4, 2019, residents of the United States will celebrate for the 243rd time the country’s main national holiday - Independence Day, dedicated to the adoption in 1776 of the declaration proclaiming the freedom of the United States from British rule.
• The declaration proclaiming the independence of the United States from Great Britain was adopted by the 2 Congress on July 1776 in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Two days later, Congress approved the amended version of the document and ordered that it be printed out and distributed to the public. Therefore, the birthday of the United States is considered July 4.

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