U.S. President Donald Trump addressed crowds on Washington's National Mall on Saturday night after severe weather delayed his appearance at celebrations marking the United States' 250th independence anniversary.
The event was briefly halted when thunderstorms forced thousands of people to leave the open field near the Washington Monument and take shelter in nearby museums and government buildings. Once the weather cleared, spectators were allowed back in before Trump took to the stage.
"There’s no way we can be deterred," Trump told the crowd, adding that he would have been prepared to wait longer if needed.
Many visitors had spent hours queuing to enter the event, facing tight security and temperatures of up to 39°C. The intense heat also led to several parades and other outdoor celebrations being cancelled across the capital.
Trump lauded American achievements such as war victories, the lunar landing and the Wright brothers' pioneering flight, as well as the U.S. system of government in general. But he also urged Congress to pass stalled legislation that would limit mail ballots and require proof of citizenship to register to vote, said he had "wiped out" Iran's military and cautioned against a rise of communism in the United States.
"We like to stop a threat like that immediately and before it begins. It's like a cancer – you've got to cut it out and you got to cut it out fast," he said.
The Republican president has in the past repeatedly referred to left-wing Democratic candidates who have won a string of primary elections as "communists," though he did not explicitly do so on Saturday.
The anniversary celebrations have taken on a distinctly political tone under Trump's administration.
Before Trump, presidents generally avoided in-person appearances at 4 July celebrations, but he has blurred the line between official commemoration and campaign-style politics. Aside from a similar address that Trump gave in 2019, no U.S. president has delivered a 4 July speech on the Mall since 1951.
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) 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."
However, the approach has drawn criticism from opponents, who argue the celebrations have become too partisan. Several Democratic-led states chose not to send official delegations, while a number of performers withdrew from the programme.
A Reuters Ipsos poll found that most Americans believe the country's 250th anniversary celebrations have become too political, including large majorities of Democrats and around half of Republicans.
The event also drew members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front, which said it had travelled to Washington for the celebrations. Police said they received no reports of violence.
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