By STEVEN SLOAN and STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Festivities commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence ramped up across the United States on Friday as demonstrations of national pride — and hints of political polarization — were balanced with efforts to stay safe as much of the country baked under extreme heat.
President Donald Trump will travel to South Dakota to deliver a speech and watch fireworks at Mount Rushmore. And in a novel twist, there will be a ball drop in New York City’s Times Square at midnight to usher in the July Fourth holiday with much the same revelry that is typically reserved for New Year’s Eve.
The sound of fighter jets on military flyovers shook the nation’s capital. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered his own address on the country’s 250th anniversary that cast America as a nation of contradictions “working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived.”
“The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that work endures, and it belongs to us all,” Mamdani said, sitting behind George Washington’s desk at City Hall and surrounded by a diverse group of recently naturalized citizens.
In Washington, Glenn Brooks, who was pardoned by Trump for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said he was “thankful to be participating in this grand event.”
“I love DC,” said Brooks, of Vero Beach, Florida, while taking a break from the heat with his siblings inside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “I love the fact we’re doing it right.”
The activity culminates in the main event Saturday, when fireworks will erupt in communities across the U.S., along with backyard cookouts and block parties. Trump will deliver another speech at the National Mall in Washington before what is being billed as a historically massive fireworks show.
But for all the celebrations, there are also serious safety considerations as potentially record heat grips much of the Midwest and East Coast. Officials have warned those celebrating the holiday to stay hydrated and take air-conditioned breaks as needed.
Sky-high temperatures lead to cancellations and adjustments to the festivities
Philadelphia canceled its Salute to Independence parade Friday. Several Washington suburbs scrapped or postponed their fireworks because of the extreme heat.
Parade organizers had been planning to shorten the route and move up the start time before deciding to cancel. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for much of the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast from eastern Kansas to southern Maine, including the cities of St. Louis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
Amtrak canceled some trains in the Northeast due to excessive heat that could affect the tracks.
The weather service said peak heat indexes, which combine air temperature with humidity, of up to 115 Fahrenheit (46.11 Celsius) are possible.
Organizers of celebrations in Washington said they were adding water stations along with cooling resources and medical support. The concert Friday, a staple of Washington’s Independence Day traditions, is on, but the gates will open to the public later than usual, at 7 p.m. EDT, an hour before the show.
The holiday is unfolding at a unique time in the U.S. The anniversary has served as an opportunity for the country to reflect on its history while also reminding it of the political polarization of the moment.
On a holiday of unity, there is an undercurrent of division
Even the celebrations themselves have not quite escaped the divide.
In New York, Mamdani, a Democrat, did not mention Trump by name, but parts of his speech appeared aimed at the president’s divisive rhetoric.
“For generation after generation, we have been told that when the world has sent its people to our shores, it has not sent its best,” Mamdani said in an apparent reference to an a common criticism from Trump. “Those ideals upon which our nation was built — they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them.”
Freedom 250, an organization aligned with the White House, has come to rival America250, a bipartisan group founded by Congress a decade ago. Freedom 250 has organized much of the activity in Washington, including the Great American State Fair, which has gained attention for the relatively small crowds it has attracted. America250 is behind the ball drops unfolding in many cities, including New York, and will host a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary, according to an April survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly 3 in 10 said “excited” describes their emotions.
Ahead of the holiday, auto technician Joe Fuqua-Bejarano, in Topeka, Kansas, sized up “what makes us awesome” as a people. It is clearly not the politics, in his view, but rather resilience.
“We’ve just all got to find unity somewhere, whether that’s in laughter or perseverance, and keep everybody cool,” he said from the fireworks stand where he is doing a booming business as a side hustle.
Christina Zhou, a 25-year-old research assistant from Cambridge, Massachusetts, said she would aim to “think about just things that are happening locally.”
“It feels a little bit more like within our own personal control,” she said.
And in Washington, Karen Brooks, a retiree from Eureka, California, was joining her brother Glenn Brooks in the Smithsonian to take a break from the heat.
“It’s history in the making and we want to take it in,” she said of the celebration. “I am so thankful to be born in this country. Liberty is thriving and we will continue to fight for it.”
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Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in New York, John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Michael Casey in Cambridge, Mass., and Calvin Woodward and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.