Today is American Independence Day, a milestone in it being the 250th or semiquincentennial one, which I read is Latin for half of five hundred, which, like half of anything like half-baked or half-assed, makes it sound less impressive. It is a day when people are urged to put aside their differences and come together in patriotic unity.
Well, forget that.
I am a critic of the concept of patriotism and it takes some nerve for Trump and his cult to call for bipartisan unity when Trump hijacked the original bipartisan plans (as Jenora Feuer pointed out) and created his own celebration committee to make it all about himself. So it had long stopped being a national celebration and had become a Trump vanity project so it is hardly surprising that there is a lot of schadenfreude about how things have fallen apart bigly.
The big news is how an event that should have had massive crowds seems to have attracted tinier audiences than small local county fairs, with one band playing to audiences that were smaller than the band size. In fact, there seemed to be fewer people on the Mall than there usually are on any summer day.
“The Mall in the summer is a big tourist destination,” Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois wrote on X, resharing video of the performance. “Tourists, locals on their lunch break, people tossing frisbees, etc. A strong case can be made that there are FEWER people here than there would be but for Trump’s Tacky Craptacular.”
Trump gave a speech on the opening day to to replace the music concert that got canceled when the performers pulled out. He spoke at night and apparently could not see how few people there were and that many were leaving as he spoke. For Trump, crowd size is everything and he was apparently livid the next day when he saw aerial photographs showing the sparse crowd and he ordered those photos removed from the government websites, and that officials should say that 45,000 people were there.
In fact, it is quite astonishing how bad the organization of this event has been. State fairs are routinely held around the year in many parts of the country and people know how to create ones that draw crowds and how to take care of them. They also know that July is in the middle of summer and thus have contingencies to deal with the heat, so that the fairs stay open while offering relief to attendees. I am pretty sure that the original organizing committee would have had people who were knowledgeable about these things. But the Trump people, clueless and arrogant as they are, seemed to have cobbled together features, a broken Ferris wheel, empty booths, few food options and those also highly overpriced, power failures causing ice cream to melt, pieces falling from the roof of the main stage, the arch falling apart, with few tents or other shelters to escape from the heat or rain storms, or even seating for people to rest and eat. This became starkly apparent when yesterday, the few people who were there were abruptly told to leave at 1:00pm because the event was closed due to the heat and that they could come back at 5:00pm. This made no sense since the temperature at 5:00pm was still close to 100F. Suspicions are that the event was closed because of embarrassment over the visuals of small crowds.
The National Mall is a huge open space with no shelter and the surrounding areas have almost no cafes and restaurants or other public places to take refuge. So when people are asked to leave, where are they to go? Those who have come from a distance cannot go home and get back. Are they expected to sit in their cars with the air-conditioning on? But that is out of the question since there are no designated parking areas near the site and today the roads are being closed around the area so people have to use public transport.
Then today the big parade was also canceled because of the heat. The opening of the fair was also pushed back from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. This evening is the big event with a fireworks display that is, in typical Trump style, more about size than taste and style which, as Dunc commented, is an ominous sign. It has been pushed to late at night around 10:30pm when it is cooler but Trump has promised to make a long speech as well, beginning at around 9:45pm. And because he is going to be there, security will be tighter with longer lines and visitors can take fewer things with them.
The list of prohibited items is longer this year, partly due to the fact Trump will be delivering a speech at the event. All guests will also have to pass through security magnetometers before entering.
There is a strict clear bag policy this year, according to Freedom 250, meaning attendees are permitted one clear bag not exceeding 12-by-6-by-12 inches or one small clutch no larger than 10-by-6-by-2 inches.
The full list of prohibited items states pets other than service or guide animals, balloons, aerosols (including bug spray and sunscreen), bikes, coolers, camping and folding chairs, balls and Frisbees, drink tumblers, vapes, lighters and more are not permitted into the event. Blankets and strollers are allowed.
No on-site storage will be available and any items surrendered at security checkpoints will be thrown out or destroyed.
How does it make any sense for Trump to make a speech at all? People will be restless during his speech, waiting for him to end so that the fireworks can begin. In typical fake macho style he has even promised that his speech will be “really long” to “show that I can do anything”, ignoring the fact that he will be whisked in and out in an air conditioned car, unlike the poor saps in the audience who will be forced to listen to the whole thing in the heat and not leave because they will want to see the fireworks.
The best thing Trump could have done to improve the experience is cancel his own appearance. But of course he will not do that. For him, this is all about his vanity and he does not care how much it inconveniences people.
Meanwhile, yesterday was the wedding at Madison Square Garden of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce which drew huge crowds. Maybe the Trump fair organizers should have offered the couple to host that wedding to take place today on the Mall. The crowds would have been huge. But Trump has attacked Swift for endorsing Democrats and so that idea would have been a non-starter.
What heat? Ignore the communist hoax of a warming climate. Besides, the fireworks rockets are all made in communist China.
When I was a young pedantic computer engineer interested in time stamps and dates I started to wonder why the first US President was inaugurated in 1789, if the USA was created in 1776?
Lassi @#1,
The reason is that the date of July 4, 1776 is when the conveners agreed to the wording of the Declaration of Independence. It is not even the date when they signed the document. That process began on August 2nd and continued for some days.
Then there was the actual war of independence to be got through and then the drafting and ratification of the constitution that created the office of the presidency. All that took more than a decade.
… the 250th or semiquincentennial one, which I read is Latin for half of five hundred, which I read is Latin for half of five hundred, which, like half of anything like half-baked or half-assed…
I would’ve suggested “sesquibicentennial” (sort of “half and two”-centennial), but probably would have had my wrists slapped by magistramarla, cartomancer, and all other Latin teachers passing by.
i still find myself desiring a 23 dollar turkey leg. just once, for the experience.
There are people you can hire that put on events like this. I’m curious if the Trump administration did or not. It’s also very much like the Trump administration to put a political or business figure in charge and expect they can make it work. It’s interesting that we have not heard anything about who is running the fair. Whoever it is seems to have grasped before the fair opened it was going to do badly and are keeping themselves out of the press.
To a certain extent the organizers got hosed on the temperature, weather conditions causing it to run up well above normal for the week. Still, they should have had a medical tent, some cool off tents and free water at such a big event this time of year.
Free good press at a national celebration event, if he does it right. Considering the late timing it’s better suited to a short intro to the fireworks, not a long rambling campaign speech.
How does it make any sense for Trump to make a speech at all?
An eighty year old man talking for hours in the heat. What could go wrong?
It doesn’t matter to Trump if it’s a lousy time or no one attends. He’ll just do what he does about every other disaster: lie about it. If it’s particularly bad he’ll just make it a staple of his impromptu grievance speeches like his failed run for president in 2020.
Fox is already lying for him so conservatives will never know the DC celebration probably didn’t measure up to their local celebrations.
I was actually a colonial rebellion.
Mano @2: Yes, I found out that when looking in the details. I also found out that the USA was formed by independent colonies, who lost their independence by joining the federation. So the USA doesn’t have an Independence Day,
I guess the official parade was canceled, but the white supremacists were there to increase America’s shame. Ironically many people from the fair took shelter from the weather at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The best thing Trump could have done to improve the experience is croak.
Trump could have left it alone. The mainstream media would have ranged from “grudging respect” to “singing his praises” which would have been a lot better than he usually gets. But his ego would not allow this.
If he were smart, he could have planned a bait-and-switch where the switch wasn’t revealed until the last moment. Ha-ha-ha, your “non-partisan event” was hyperpartisan all along! Probably even have gotten away with it. He is not smart.
But no, his combination of ego and dumb ruined everything. As usual. Next stop: scapegoating!
But a bit of fun here, for a certain value of “fun”: apparently the evil global cabal used their weather machines to make things extra super hot (and also rainy, briefly) in order to ruin the event. It’s totally not because it’s July and also they didn’t bother with any of the weather-related accommodations that even a small county fair would anticipate needing. 🙄
What cruel bastard would bring their beloved animal friends to a fireworks display?
Holmes@13- I’m surprised they make an exception for service animals given their contempt for people with disabilities.
I don’t see rotten fruit on that list . . .
(I am fairly confident no-one took the opportunity to pelt Trump with rotten fruit.)
Here’s the text of the speech, if you’re morbidly curious:
https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Trump-July-4-2026-speech.pdf
And no mention of the holiday can be complete without mentioning that the white supremacist Patriot Front held marches in DC on the 4th as well:
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/masked-men-with-confederate-flags-seen-chanting-marching-riding-metro-in-dc/4125936/
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/masked-patriot-front-white-nationalists-stage-july-4-march-through-dc-2026-07-04/
by a wide margin the majority of people in DC are black. not true of that precise zip code, but it’s funny to imagine those asswipes hiding their paraphernalia on the way into town.
It’s a lot of hard work pretending you’re a patriot when everyone can tell you’re just a seditious thug.
apparently the racist pukes are feeling pretty bold: https://64.media.tumblr.com/bba63040c0ef3a6597c028bff9643f35/2bd599cacf1478c0-a4/s1280x1920/5831c74c109147f89d0de91ae74476743950ddb4.jpg
The fireworks started after midnight (meaning July 5th) because Trump couldnt keep his speech short.
So for the first time since the revolutionary war ended and DC was built, there were no official fireworks on the fourth of July in the city.
I saw NBCs version of the fireworks in DC on YouTube. At 1/4th of the time in, the rightmost third of the sky was smoke. At 1/2, half of the sky was smoke and in the right third, you could only see the initial explosions. The last five minutes were heavily shrouded. It was weirdly psychedelic. I’m supposing this was intentional?
I saw an individual’s filming of Macy’s NYC display that they shared on YouTube. It was prettier and more sophisticated by a long shot, with one tenth the total number of fireworks.
Only service animals?
Next 4th of July, show up with your service rhinoceros. Dare the guards to reject you.
“Orphaned Rhinos Run to Their Human Like Giant Puppies”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=1AQgZun_y2o
birgerjohansson #22
Thank you.
@Snowberry #12:
Honestly, “He could have left it alone and it would have been better even for him” was one of the Hallmarks of Trump even before the presidency. People were noting a decade ago that he’d probably have had more money if he’d just invested it in relatively safe stocks than if he kept doing his real estate wheeling and dealing.
Part of the problem may have been that the real estate dealing was part of how his father slipped him money without having to pay taxes on it. His father’s business would loan one of his companies money; as a loan rather than income, it wouldn’t be taxed. Trump would skim money off the top with an exorbitant salary, and run the company into the ground, eventually declaring bankruptcy, which meant he could stiff his contractors because the company didn’t have money to pay them. It also meant his father could write off the non-repaid ‘loan’ as a business loss, reducing his taxes. So, deliberate bankruptcy as a business model to allow for money to be transferred from his father without either of them paying taxes on it.
Trump never learned how to run a business sustainably.