By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will mark the country’s 250th anniversary on Saturday with a political rally on a fenced-off National Mall in Washington, capping a weeks-long celebration that has been widely described as divisive.
Washington’s annual July 4 celebration typically draws hundreds of thousands of people. Visitors this year must contend with stepped-up security, possible thunderstorms and a record-breaking heat wave that has forced organizers to cancel several parades and other events around the area.
Crowds were sparse at first but have swelled in recent days, forcing visitors to wait in entrance lines that stretched several blocks. Gift shops and restaurants at the Smithsonian Institution museums near the event reported near-record sales on Friday, said Frank DiGiovine, a Smithsonian executive.
As the temperature on Saturday afternoon reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius), people near the National Mall lined up at security checkpoints to access prime viewing spots for a fireworks display that was not due to start for several hours.
“It’s just part of the deal I signed up for,” said Glen Solander, 60, a software engineer visiting from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
WHITE NATIONALIST GROUP ARRIVES
Other visitors included the white nationalist organization Patriot Front. The group posted on social media that it had arrived in the capital, and hundreds of people wearing the group’s outfits traveled to the city on D.C. Metro trains. Local police said they had not received any reports of violence.
Trump has billed his 10 p.m. ET (0200 Sunday GMT) appearance at the Lincoln Memorial as “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.”
Past U.S. presidents have generally avoided in-person appearances at July 4 celebrations, but Trump has blurred the line between official commemoration and campaign-style politics.
The Trump administration’s Freedom 250 group has largely sidelined a nonpartisan body set up in 2016 to handle the 250th anniversary and has fenced off much of the 1.5-mile (2.4-km) National Mall for a “Great American State Fair” featuring attractions such as a Ferris wheel alongside displays by conservative groups and defense contractors.
Freedom 250 says the fair aims to showcase the people and innovations that make the U.S. “the greatest nation on Earth.”
Several Democratic-led states declined to send delegations, and many performers scheduled to appear dropped out, citing concerns about partisanship.
Trump opened the event with a rally on June 24.
Other activities with Freedom 250 branding include a faith rally featuring mostly conservative Christian speakers, and multiple sports events, including a card of mixed martial arts bouts on the White House grounds for Trump’s 80th birthday. An IndyCar race in Washington is scheduled for August.
The Freedom 250 organization also sponsored “Freedom Trucks” that critics say paint an overly religious version of American history and gloss over issues such as slavery and racial injustice.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that a majority of Americans, including three-quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans, think the events celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary have grown too political.
Trump has sought to remake wide swaths of the capital city ahead of the 250th celebration, with mixed results. Many fountains and statues have been renovated, but problems have beset a much-touted $15 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool. Security cameras and soldiers now stand watch over its peeling paint and algae-fouled waters.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; additional reporting by Jana Winter; Editing by Sergio Non, Alistair Bell, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel)
