President Trump's supporters and allies considered the event to be a display of the president's pride in the country and its military. Comparisons were drawn to "
Honor America Day"—a 1970 Independence Day rally at the Capitol in support of
Richard Nixon, in the wake of controversy over the
invasion of Cambodia and the
Kent State shootings. That event also faced opposition, notably by
anti-Vietnam War protesters and other protesters smoking
cannabis in support of its
legalization.
Pre-event concerns and criticism Prior to the event, Michelle Cottle of
The New York Times, former House Republican
David Jolly, and radio host
Charlie Sykes accused Trump of turning the "
non-partisan" Independence Day holiday into a political event—co-opting the celebration to promote his
2020 presidential re-election campaign. Some military and Pentagon officials had raised similar concerns. Some media outlets also reported on the potential damage military vehicles could cause to local roads. It was later confirmed that while military vehicles would be featured during the event, they would be parked on the National Mall and not parading. Democratic Senator
Tom Udall argued it was "unacceptable that the
Interior Department is failing to inform Congress about how it plans to spend taxpayer money to fund the president's lavish July 4th plans, which reportedly include special access to the National Mall for the politically connected." Trump downplayed these concerns, saying that the event would cost "very little compared to what it is worth". Around 5:30 pm local, an hour before Trump's speech, two members of the
Revolutionary Communist Party were arrested by
Secret Service officers after scuffles broke out with counter-protesters during a
flag burning protest in front of the White House. One of those arrested was charged with malicious burning and felony assault on a police officer, and the other with obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest. The Secret Service said the flag burning display occurred "outside the limits of a permit issued by the National Park Service."
Post-event . Two
M2 Bradleys are showcased. David Smith of
The Guardian acknowledged that Trump's 47-minute speech "did not fulfill his critics' worst fears of a politically partisan, campaign-style rally", and mostly avoided partisan politics in favor of "a heroic version of American military history". However, Smith suggested that the event as a whole did "provide the bombastic show of military might that had been widely predicted" and noted the event resembled a Trump campaign rally because many audience members chanted pro-Trump slogans, wore
Make America Great Again hats and held "Trump 2020" signs. He observed that "in a city that projects power through monuments, statues and its own Capitol, critics said it was the moment Trump went full
Roman emperor, turning a traditionally nonpartisan day of events into a vanity project." Trump was criticized for making incorrect statements about the
American Revolutionary War in a section of the speech, recounting that the
Continental Army "took over the airports"—airplanes were yet to be invented—and had "nothing but victory" in the
Battle of Baltimore, which took place during the
War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War. Trump attributed the "airports" gaffe to his
teleprompter malfunctioning and being difficult to read in the rain. Some
Canadian news outlets took exception to Trump referencing
Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the
telephone as a result of the United States' "unleashed" "culture of discovery"; Bell was Scottish-born and spent time in both Canada and the United States while developing the telephone, though he did file his first
patent on the telephone in the United States. In a letter to Trump after the event, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asked for reimbursement of the city's expenses, saying Salute to America had exhausted D.C.'s Emergency Planning and Security Fund, a federally funded reserve account intended to reimburse the city for extra security and anti-terrorism measures during large federal events. She said the costs of "your additional July 4th holiday activities and subsequent First Amendment demonstrations" had depleted the account and would soon leave it in the red. On July 8, three Democratic members of the
Senate Appropriations Committee requested the
Government Accountability Office investigate the costs and legality of the event. Also on July 8, Trump announced his intentions to hold a second Salute to America event in 2020, although, in 2020, the occurrence of the event was called into question due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, with at least ten lawmakers having asked President Trump to cancel the planned second celebration. The administration nevertheless held the
2020 Salute to America on July 4, 2020. ==See also==