Trump's Fourth Failure: Postscript

Donald Trump, who was unwilling to honor Word War I veterans at a French cemetery last year due to rain, delivered his "Salute to America" speech on the mall this week despite the threat of bad weather.  Without a moment of unease over the hypocrisy of his words, Trump (who received five deferments to avoid military service in Vietnam) encourage young people who were listening to join the military "and make a great statement in life.  And you should do it."

Many Trump supporters were disappointed after trekking all the way to the Mall in the rain, however.  That is when they discovered that the actual event was primarily for the wealthy and privileged-- as the tanks and military equipment put on display were actually behind the closed perimeter for VIP's and GOP donors.

VIP tickets were provided to the Republican National Committee, who then offered them to high-dollar GOP donors.  Trump's re-election campaign also got some tickets to hand out as they saw fit.  Neither the Democratic National Committee nor any Democratic Congressional leaders were provided with tickets.

The event was held on National Park Service (government) property, and $2.5 million was diverted in federal funds away from the National Park Service to help pay for staging the event.   And with all the money spent on trying to upstage the New York City fireworks, it was a puzzlement that Trump couldn't afford to hire someone to squeegee the water droplets off the protective glass before he delivered his speech.

The actual speech given by Trump (dubbed the "Forgettysburg Address") was remarkably free to the rhetoric typically heard at his rallies-- but it contained several historical errors nonetheless.  At one point, Trump referred to airports existing in 1775-- saying the Continental Army "manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do" during the Revolutionary War against Britain.   Many have attributed the slip up to Trump's known difficulty in reading from the teleprompter.

Trump also mixed up the War of 1812 and the War of Independence, mistaking the Battle of For McHenry as having taken place during the Revolutionary War.

Two companies, Phantom Fireworks and Fireworks by Grucci, donated about $750,000 worth of pyrotechnics for the ceremony-- amid efforts by the two companies' CEO's to get the Trump administration to abandon tariffs on imports from China that would deal a below to the U.S. fireworks industry.  The tariffs were part of a $300 billion package of such measures that the president delayed last week, granting fireworks companies a temporary reprieve.

View of fireworks on the Mall

The ostentatious display of pyrotechnics backfired, however-- as the excessive rush of explosions at the beginning of the display created a thick blanket of smoke that prevented visitors at the National Mall from seeing most of the remaining fireworks.  After the show was over, the lingering smoke combined with the high humidity, creating a pollution hazard for city residents for the remainder of the evening.

The fireworks donations nonetheless boosted a ceremony that prominently featured Trump himself, just as his 2020 re-election campaign kicks into gear.  And the event didn't just stand to benefit Trump politically-- his DC hotel also capitalized on the tourism boom surround the Independence Day festivities.  As of Wednesday morning, the Trump International Hotel (just blocks from the White House) was still offering rooms for a minimum three-night stay starting at $1,151 or more per night.

Afterward, the Trump even was marred by an unseemly brawl that broke out between protesters and members of the alt-right militant group Proud Boys, after the former set fire to the stars-and-stripes in front of the White House.

View of the fireworks from the Virginia Suburbs

View from the East end of the National Mall

Smoky haze that lingered in Dupont Circle hours after the event