Instead of using the moment to unify the country on Independence Day, Trump repeatedly veered into darkly political territory in his 35-minute address. Here’s what he said – and what it means
Donald Trump ranted about communism and demanded Congress pass his election-rigging bill as he marked America’s 250th Anniversary.
The US President then appeared to snooze through what he claimed was the biggest fireworks display in history. Instead of using the moment to unify the country on Independence Day, Trump repeatedly veered into darkly political territory in his 35-minute address
While shorn of some of the threatening tone he used in a speech at Mount Rushmore the night before, Trump returned to the same themes: Branding his opponents un-American Communists, boasting of his protection of the right to buy guns and his own personal greatness. He demanded Republicans pass the “SAVE America Act”, a shakeup of election rules that Trump has boasted will ensure his party never loses. And he joked about serving a third term in office.
The event itself had been chaotic – with his speech delayed after thousands of supporters were evacuated from the area because of thunderstorms.
Here are the key moments from Trump’s July 4th rant – and what they really mean.
Trump demanded Congress pass his election-rigging bill
Trump demanded Congress pass the SAVE America Act, his election-rigging bill – which he has boasted would mean Republicans “will not lose an election for a hundred years.” It would demand strict photo ID to register to vote, seize control of voter rolls on an unprecedented scale, and dramatically clamp down on postal voting – which Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed is vulnerable to fraud.
In the current system, the bill has zero chance of making it into law – Trump doesn’t have the votes he’d need for it to pass a Democratic filibuster. So he’s been pressuring the Republicans to abolish the filibuster – a move so risky for the future of the party that it’s widely known as the nuclear option. But many fear that even if he fails to ram it through, his repeated and baseless claims of election fraud will create enough uncertainty for him to be able to dispute the result of November’s midterm elections.
“We want to keep America great and we will do so by approving the SAVE America act which means all voters must show voter ID,” Trump said last night. “You will not have cheating in the elections.”
He ranted about Communism again
Trump turned to another troubling recent obsession – branding his political opponents “communists”.
Not content with his supporters considering their opponents as fellow Americans with whom they have disagreements on policy, Trump is leaving nothing to chance – and seems determined to paint them as, at the very least, un-American. It follows recent successes in primaries by left-leaning Democrat candidates – championed in New York by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
And Trump has made yet more sinister remarks, branding these democratically selected candidates a “cancer” who must be “cut out”, and on Friday night at Mount Rushmore suggesting they be “sent into exile.”
“America will never be a communist country,” he said last night. “Won’t happen. Communism is a loser and always will be. The communist system is the opposite of the American system and the communist system has never worked. Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world only to have that menace rear its ugly head right back here in America.
“We’re not going to let it happen. We like to stop a threat like that immediately and before it begins. It’s like a cancer. You got to cut it out and you got to cut it out fast.”
Trump joked about a third term as President
Bragging about the military adventures he’s embarked on in the last year, Trump suggested that he was in fact serving not his second, but his third term – a nod to his repeated and false claims that he won the 2020 election. In fact, he lost that election to Joe Biden.
“We rebuilt our military in my first term,” he told the crowd. “We use it a little in our — actually I should say third term, but I won’t do that, because I don’t want any controversy.”
He added: “We use it and we’ve had tremendous success. You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped it out. Wiped out their military.”
And he went off script to moan about his own personal persecution
Trump went off script to moan that he’d been unfairly treated by America’s legal system, a frequent beef since his time out of office.
Trump was pursued, prosecuted and convicted of federal crimes following his first term. A string of even more serious crimes – including his illegal removal and storage of classified documents in a toilet at Mar A Lago – were dropped by prosecutors just before he retook the Oval Office.
But Trump has yet to let it go.
“Unlike so many others in the world,” he said, “We have equal justice under the law. Although I was not treated that well but we will not get into that.”
Trump appeared to snooze through the record-setting fireworks
In the lead up to the speech, Trump, 80, boasted this year’s Independence Day fireworks display would be the biggest in history.
He bragged the 35-minute display would include 850,000 pyrotechnic effects – which would amount to 400 explosives set off every second.
Yet Trump managed to rest his eyes for a while during the unprecedented spectacle.
The event was pretty chaotic
Before Trump’s speech, the National Mall was evacuated over fears of impending lightning strikes.
Thousands of people were forced to evacuate and seek shelter in a nearby building.
Freedom250, the Trump aligned group that seized control of the semiquincentennial celebrations last year, said in a statement: “The safety of our guests, performers, and staff is our top priority. Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, United States Secret Service, United States Park Police, National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building.”
Shelter was available in several nearby buildings, but many Trump fans ended up waiting outside in the rain for an hour before crowds were allowed back on to the mall.
The gates reopened at 9.45pm, with Trump’s speech delayed until 11pm. That meant fireworks didn’t start until nearly midnight – a late night for any kids waiting up to watch.