'Today, we come together as one nation with this very special salute to America,' President Trump said. 'We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag — the brave men and women of the United States military.'
President Donald Trump delivered a speech Thursday long on praise for America and its armed forces and devoid of the highly political content critics feared he would inject into his taxpayer-funded Fourth of July extravaganza.
"Douglass — you know — Frederick Douglass," Trump said of the 19th century African-American activist."The great Frederick Douglass." Ahead of each flyover, Trump offered up a short history of the wartime heroics and efforts of each branch of the military, running from the Revolutionary War through the present day. When mentioning the Navy SEALs, Trump noted their involvement in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War, saying the Vietnamese"don’t want to see our force again."
Although a steady rain fell at the Lincoln Memorial throughout the day, many guests were told they could not bring umbrellas inside the event, leading many attendees sporting colorful ponchos or simply wearing hats instead. Protesters were out in force ahead of the event. Code Pink, an anti-war organization, put up a 20-foot-tall diaper-clad balloon of an infant Trump in the shadow of the Washington Monument, the Associated Press reported — though the"Baby Trump" blimp was later deflated amid stormy weather.
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