Trump’s ‘Salute’ for the 4th of July not likely to unite US
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will deliver a speech from the Lincoln Memorial on July 4 ahead of the fireworks as the headline speaker at a “Salute to America,” which the commander in chief promised will be “the show of a lifetime.”
It is an event that seems destined not to unite Americans.
The D.C. City Council tweeted its disapproval — “Tanks, but no tanks” — to emphasize the city’s concerns about the damage military equipment might do to city roads.
We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: Tanks, but no tanks. (PS: The @DeptofDefense agrees, see highlighted area below) pic.twitter.com/ock2EORKNz
— Council of DC (@councilofdc) July 1, 2019
Days ahead of the celebration, singer/songwriter Carole King tweeted a cartoon to assure her fans that she will perform at the traditional celebration on the Capitol lawn before the fireworks, but not be a participant in Trump’s “political rally.”
— Carole King (@Carole_King) June 28, 2019
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Department of the Interior diverted nearly $2.5 million in fee revenue meant to improve national parks to pay for the nation’s 243rd birthday party — which poured extra fuel on the fireworks.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that “Phantom Fireworks” and “Fireworks by Grucci” had generously donated to “the biggest fireworks Washington D.C. has ever seen.”
Thanks to “Phantom Fireworks” and “Fireworks by Grucci" for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen. CEO's Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our Nations history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2019
As for the expense of transporting M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Capitol and staging Air Force One and Blue Angels flyovers, Trump tweeted, it “will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel.”
The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
But Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, hit the transfer of Interior funds on Twitter in light of the department’s maintenance backlog of nearly $12 billion.
“I don’t get it,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters Tuesday afternoon. This is a “celebration of our country, our freedom, our leadership … If it costs a few bucks, so be it.”
Critics abound
Others saw the show of military force as more ominous. MSNBC host Joy Reid framed the event as “a threat.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont maintained on Twitter, “This is what authoritarians do.” Sanders criticized Trump for tapping into National Park Service money “to glorify himself with a spectacle of military tanks rolling through Washington,” then slammed the Trump White House for giving out VIP tickets to GOP donors.
This is what authoritarians do: @realDonaldTrump is taking $2.5 million away from our National Park Service to glorify himself with a spectacle of military tanks rolling through Washington. And top GOP donors are getting VIP seats, all at taxpayer expense. https://t.co/8vchmDxX8W
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 3, 2019
The White House distributed VIP tickets to Republican organizations and military families, who will have admission to an area closest to the Lincoln Memorial. The White House did not provide numbers or further information.
“It’s standard practice for the RNC to receive a small number of tickets to events just as the DNC did under Democrat presidents. This is routine for events like the White House Christmas Open Houses, Garden Tours in spring and fall, etc.” an RNC official said in a statement.
An official at the Democratic National Committee said the DNC received no such tickets.
“This is a public event. It’s open to the public. The public is welcome to come,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told a reporter who asked about the RNC tickets Tuesday.
Looking for violations
The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington will watch to see if Trump gets overtly political. If the president turns the national birthday into a “taxpayer-funded campaign rally,” the organization’s Walter Shaub wrote, it could be a violation of the Hatch Act.
The event is likely to attract two groups frequently seen in the public areas that surround the White House: out-of-towners in MAGA hats and Trump haters displaying hand-written signs with expletives.
The anti-war group Code Pink — infamous for its blond-wigged activists who often heckle elected officials in government buildings — plans to fly the orange baby Trump blimp.
Gregory Lee Johnson, whose 1984 case led the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the right to burn the American flag, plans to burn a flag in Washington on Thursday to protest Trump’s “whole fascist agenda,” he told USA Today.
And many locals are likely to tune out rather than watch Trump address the nation on the very steps on which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed “I have a dream” in 1963.
Washington Post art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott wrote, “In the long arc of Trump’s public career, there isn’t a shred of evidence that he understands who Lincoln was, what he stood for and how he accomplished it.”
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
