Donald Trump rebrands Independence Day

By M.S.R. | WASHINGTON, DC

INDEPENDENCE DAY, which commemorates America serving notice to Britain in 1776, has for decades been scrupulously non-political. Presidents have tended to stay home and host celebrations at the White House or to visit festivities around the country. They have not appeared on the National Mall, the iconic two-mile strip of grass that runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, and they have not made prime-time televised speeches.

President Donald Trump is playing it differently this year. In a major break with tradition, he is putting himself at the centre of the action on July 4th, having promised on Twitter, “an address by your favourite President, me!” He will begin with a speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Before him, a large section of the Mall will have been cordoned off for spectators with tickets, handed out by the White House. Mr Trump’s address will kick off a “Salute to America” event that will be strongly militaristic in tone.

The president has promised “planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes too, and we’re going to have some tanks stationed outside.” (He had said there would be “brand new Sherman tanks” but they haven’t been in service since the 1950s.) Mr Trump has reportedly asked that the chiefs of the army, air force and marines stand beside him as aircraft fly overhead. He has also promised the “biggest ever Fireworks!” The 35-minute pyrotechnics will go on twice as long as the usual July 4th display on the Mall.

Mr Trump’s aides say the event is designed to be patriotic rather than political. But for the president to commandeer what has traditionally been a non-partisan event has naturally sparked concerns that he is turning July 4th into a campaign event. He has already broken with presidential norms by using official visits to military bases to lay into the Democrats. Steny Hoyer, the Democratic House Majority leader, accused Mr Trump of turning July 4th into a “political rally”.

The plans have also attracted local criticism—perhaps unsurprisingly in a strongly Democratic city. “We have said it before and we’ll say it again”, joked DC’s city council on its official Twitter page. “Tanks, but no tanks”. It appended a snapshot of a memo from the office of the secretary of defence with the words “include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks” highlighted.

That was a reference to another, related concern, that Mr Trump is turning a celebration that is primarily about democracy, freedom and the citizens who enjoy those things, into a celebration of the military. Tributes to the armed forces and to veterans, especially in smaller military parades, are common on July 4th. But they are not the dominant theme of such festivities. America already celebrates Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day; Mr Trump seems to be suggesting that another such event is necessary and July 4th should be it. “The Pentagon & our great Military Leaders are thrilled to be doing this & showing to the American people, among other things, the strongest and most advanced Military anywhere in the World,” he tweeted on July 2nd.

Mr Trump had originally wanted to hold a bigger military parade, perhaps on Veterans Day, but that was shelved over concerns it would cost too much and that heavy military equipment would damage the capital’s roads. He was inspired by a Bastille Day celebration in Paris that he attended in 2017. "We’re gonna have to try and top it,” he said back then, “but we had a lot of planes going over and a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see.”