President Donald Trump is set to speak at 11 p.m. Saturday at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., capping a day of Fourth of July celebrations that were slowed by severe weather and punishing heat. A record-setting fireworks show is scheduled to follow immediately after his remarks.
The speech lands on a day when Americans are marking the 250th anniversary of their independence, and the capital is carrying the weight of the national celebration. Dozens of aircraft flyovers are scheduled over Washington, while a B-1 bomber is set to hit its afterburner late in the evening, turning the night sky into part of the show.
The crowd has already had to wait through disruptions. Extreme temperatures above 100 degrees forced a temporary closure of the fair on Friday, and severe weather suspended some events earlier Saturday evening. Freedom 250 organizers said at 9:10 p.m. local time that Trump directed gates at the National Mall to reopen at 9:45 p.m. after a brief storm delay, with the U.S. Secret Service saying a screening area would reopen shortly and remain mandatory for anyone who had already been evacuated.
Officials said the nation’s 250th birthday celebration would proceed rain or shine, but the day’s schedule has made that promise harder to keep. Bret Baier of took shelter during Washington’s Fourth of July celebrations inside a trailer with a group of World War II heroes, including a 103-year-old veteran who fought across France, Holland and Germany and said he was glad to be there and loves America.
What Trump plans to say has not been made public, but the timing is clear: he is due to address the crowd just before midnight, after the gates reopen and before the fireworks begin. For the thousands gathered in Washington, the question is no longer whether the celebration will continue. It is how much of the country’s 250th anniversary will still be standing when the speech starts.
