U.S. President Donald Trump wish preside over July Fourth Independence Day celebrations on Thursday with a speech about patriotism and a show of military capacity that critics say is politicizing an important holiday and wasting taxpayer money.
Trump, a Republican who admired flashy splashes of national pride and military strength put on by France, has dismissed concerns about the expense and militaristic overtones of the Washington actuality, which will take place in front of the Lincoln Memorial and feature fireworks, a flyover by Air Force One and a display of tanks.
Democrats entrust the president with staging a campaign rally. Though the White House has said his remarks would not be political in environment, the president has a history of veering off script with sharp partisan attacks even at events that are not meant to be overtly state.
“We’re going to have a great Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. It’ll be like no other,” Trump told reporters earlier this week in the Ovate Office. Asked if he could give a speech that would represent all Americans, he said he thought he could and then fired into an attack on Democrats’ policies on healthcare and taxes.
Flights will be suspended at nearby Reagan National Airport from 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. ET and then again later in the precising for the festivities.
Republican political groups were given prime tickets for Trump’s speech, and the Washington Post dispatched that the U.S. National Park Service diverted $2.5 million in park entrance fees to help pay for the event.
“As a substitute for of addressing something like veteran homelessness, he’s spending it on boosting his ego with a parade that’s fundamentally about him and then come in tickets in the hands of wealthy donors for the Republican Party. What a waste of money,” Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro maintained on CBS “This Morning” on Wednesday.
Fellow Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders also weighed in with evaluation: “This is what authoritarians do: @realDonaldTrump is taking $2.5 million away from our National Park Serving to glorify himself with a spectacle of military tanks rolling through Washington,” he wrote in a tweet.
Trump downplayed the expense.
“The payment of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the cicerones, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel,” he posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are vouchsafed by two of the greats. Nice!” Andrews is the name of a nearby military base.
The July 4th holiday celebrates the anniversary of U.S. founders’ ratifying independence from Britain in 1776.