President Donald Trump has promised that July 4, America’s 250th birthday, will feature “the LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY.”
Those celebrating America’s birthday in the nation’s capital can expect a fireworks show, a rally from Trump, and multiple flyovers beginning at 1 p.m. The new Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8 gifted by the Qataris, will lead the flyovers.
“This is going to lead to a group of many, many planes. … Every pilot wants to do it. Those pilots are all fighting to do it, so we’re gonna have a lot of planes flying over the Capitol and over the White House.”
Trump said the airshow will be “the biggest, by far, in the History of the United States of America.”
“Hundreds of Planes, of different types, sizes, and speeds, will be on display,” he said.
Starting at 7 p.m., there will be a live broadcast featuring the Joint Armed Forces Orchestra and national speakers. Trump will speak at 9 p.m.
Trump will deliver “a unifying message about how America is back and hotter than ever,” said Freedom250 spokeswoman Julia Friedland.
He will “recognize the weight of this occasion, 250 years as a nation, and the fact that he is commander-in-chief during it is pretty cool, and it’s a part of history, so I imagine he will touch on that,” she told the Daily Signal.
Trump spoke at kick-off celebration for the “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall on June 24, and Friedland expects he will give a similar message on July 4.
After Trump’s address, a fireworks show will commence at 11 p.m., lasting for 40 minutes, double the usual length.
There will be 850,000 fireworks shells launched from 10 sites. The show will be “approximately ten times larger than any Fireworks in the History of our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Freedom250’s Great American State Fair has operated on the National Mall since June 25 and will remain until July 10. The fair features exhibits on all 50 states, though some blue states chose not to send a delegation.
Friedland stressed that the celebration is not partisan, but rather an event for everyone celebrating the “weight of the moment.”
“This is not political, this is not partisan at all,” she said. “We are all here for the same goal. Any attempt to make it political or partisan, is very partisan.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged D.C. residents and tourists to plan ahead for the celebration, due to road closures, extreme heat, and additional flyovers and a fireworks show “that will begin later and last longer than ever before.”
