Trump is in the process of hijacking the Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C., and turning the event into a celebration of himself.
Presidents don’t normally give an address during Fourth of July celebrations, which normally take place in front of the Capitol building on the National Mall. But Trump has moved the location of the holiday fireworks display and plans to address the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Post reported.
The effect of many of the changes will make Trump, not America, the centerpiece of the event.
“The president’s starring role has the potential to turn what has long been a nonpartisan celebration of the nation’s founding into another version of a Trump campaign rally,” the Post notes.
An aide told the paper that Trump has shown much more interest in the fireworks than he does for other, far more important topics.
The fireworks are so high on Trump’s upside-down list of priorities that he has personally tasked Interior Secretary David Bernhardt with putting it together, the Post reports, and is receiving regular briefings on it in the Oval Office.
Trump has eschewed briefings from America’s intelligence agencies on vital national security topics — but fireworks are a different story.
Trump is so deeply involved that he has specified where fireworks should be launched from a barge in the middle of the Potomac River.
Those outside of Trump’s immediate orbit are alarmed at his attempts to hijack one of America’s most important holidays.
“It’s not about any one person, it’s about ‘We, the people.’ And if the president moves to make this about him, I think he will find the American public disappointed and angered by it,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), told the Post.
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to make a national holiday all about him.
After witnessing the Bastille Day celebration in France, Trump became obsessed with the idea of turning Veterans Day into a crass military parade.
Trump’s vision would have more in common with celebrations held by despotic leaders and other dictators than traditional pro-democracy displays from American presidents.
The exorbitant cost, nightmare logistics, and embarrassing coverage of the plans led to their eventual cancellation — but the same problems might not deter Trump this time.
His Fourth of July plot is yet more proof that Trump believes in Trump, not America.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
