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<\/p>\nUS President Donald Trump marked the 250th anniversary of the United States with a campaign-style speech that repeated his calls for new voting restrictions, warned that “communists” could gain ground in the country and cycled through what he touted as his achievements.<\/p>\n
After a storm-related delay of nearly two hours, Mr Trump appeared on the National Mall in Washington DC on Saturday, local time, to deliver a speech that mixed broad appeals to patriotism with pointed attacks on perceived ideological threats at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
“There’s no way we can be deterred,” he said of the weather disruptions, shortly after taking the stage.<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump and Melania Trump arrive at the rally. (ABC News: Jonathan Erns)<\/p>\n
The president lauded American achievements such as war victories, the lunar landing and the Wright brothers’ pioneering flight, as well as the US system of government in general.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
During the speech, Mr Trump honoured veterans, including several from World War II and one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat in Vietnam.<\/p>\n
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Retired US Army colonel and Medal of Honor recipient Paris Davis salutes revolutionary-era American flags. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n
They appeared before flags that symbolised some of the most significant and challenging moments in American history, from the one that was draped over Abraham Lincoln’s casket to the one that flew on the plane piloted by the Wright brothers.<\/p>\n
The speech was followed by a spectacular fireworks display, featuring 850,000 fireworks.<\/p>\n
Loading…Trump warns of communist ‘cancer’<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Before Mr Trump, presidents generally avoided in-person appearances at July 4 celebrations, but he has blurred the line between official commemoration and campaign-style politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump says the huge crowd was made up of 150,000 people. (AP: Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n
Aside from a similar address that Mr Trump gave in 2019, no US president has delivered a July 4 speech on the Mall since 1951.<\/p>\n
Visitors had waited hours to get into the event, contending with stepped-up security and temperatures that reached 39 degrees Celsius.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The record-breaking heat wave forced the cancellation of several parades and other events in the area.<\/p>\n
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The sweltering conditions forced those celebrating to come up with sun-safe plans. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n
Authorities ordered an evacuation when a line of thunderstorms approached, forcing spectators to shelter in nearby museums and government buildings before they were allowed to return.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump had said this week he would “make a really long speech” for Saturday’s rally “just to show that I can do anything”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, it lasted less than 40 minutes, far shorter than many of his past speeches.<\/p>\n
Other visitors included the white nationalist organisation Patriot Front, which marched through the capital earlier in the day and rode on Metro trains serving the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police said they had not received any reports of violence.<\/p>\n
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 2.4-kilometre Mall for a “Great American State Fair” featuring attractions such as a Ferris wheel alongside displays by conservative groups and defence contractors.<\/p>\n
Trump seeks to revamp capital<\/p>\n
Freedom 250 says the fair aims to showcase the people and innovations that make the US “the greatest nation on Earth”.<\/p>\n
Several Democratic-led states declined to send delegations, and many performers scheduled to appear dropped out, citing concerns about partisanship.\u00a0<\/p>\n