Washington (United States) (AFP) - The United States celebrated its 250th birthday on Saturday with parades, flyovers and fireworks to come, as President Donald Trump stamped his mark on the landmark anniversary in a deeply divided nation.

Washington’s traditional pyrotechnic display on the National Mall – lined with monuments celebrating the nation’s Founding Fathers – has been super-sized and is being touted as the biggest ever.

Trump organized hours of military flyovers and an unusual campaign-style political rally for July Fourth, the anniversary of the 1776 signing of the country’s Declaration of Independence.

“Despite the heat, which isn’t as bad as predicted, the crowds in DC are INCREDIBLE!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday, as temperatures soared to 101F (38C) in the capital.

A swath of the eastern US was sweltering in a heat wave, with 160 million Americans under extreme weather warnings, according to the National Weather Service. Heat wreaked havoc on the parades, block parties and barbecues that traditionally mark July Fourth.

Washington’s parade was cancelled as the “feels like” temperature soared to 107F.

“The event and what it means to our country, it inspires you,” said Randy Cole, 62, a retired civil servant attending festivities in Washington.

“Experiencing a little heat is a lot less than what a lot of people sacrifice to give us this freedom in this awesome country.”

Trump, 80, said he was undeterred by the smothering heat and promised to make a “really long speech – just to show that I can do anything” – though the speech was slated for cooler hours after sunset.

Patrick Thompson, a teacher in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, said he would enjoy the day – but not at the national fireworks show.

“We still want to celebrate the country and be patriotic and it’s exciting,” Thompson, a father of two teenagers, told AFP.

“But it’s so weird because it’s got this…strange mar over it because of Trump.”

- ‘Renewed attack’ -

Trump visited the iconic Mount Rushmore monument in South Dakota on Friday for an address under the stony gaze of his legendary predecessors George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

While lauding US exceptionalism, he also said America’s identity was under “renewed attack” from domestic “radicals and extremists,” saving particular ire for a “resurgence of the communist menace.”

It is a theme that the Republican leader has repeatedly hammered home recently, after the anti-establishment left of the Democratic Party won a string of US primary victories.

On Saturday, Vice President JD Vance took up a similar theme in a speech in New York, urging Americans to “reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”

Deep divisions were on full display Saturday near Washington’s Capitol Hill, where masked men – some of them carrying Confederate flags and others sporting logos of the white supremacist Patriot Front – gathered to shout, “Reclaim America!”

Pope Leo XIV – the Catholic Church’s first US pope, who has sparred with Trump over his immigration crackdown – used the occasion to say his vision of the American dream includes an inclusive society.

“Defending human life also includes welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices and contribution have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning,” the Chicago-born pontiff said.

- Celebration and reflection -

For Americans, the 250th anniversary offers a moment for reflection as well as celebration.

A Quinnipiac University Poll showed 61 percent of Americans thought the US was not living up to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence – though most Republicans think it does, and most Democrats think it doesn’t.

Outside Washington, New York was hosting an international parade of tall ships, with flyovers and a massive fireworks display. Vance spoke there from the deck of the USS Kearsarge.

In Philadelphia, visitors lined up in the heat to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

For Loselie Weber, who was visiting Washington from Texas, the holiday inspires gratitude.

“As an immigrant – a legal immigrant – I came when I was seven years old, and I’ve been thankful, very thankful to be able to have the privilege of living here and the freedom that it has offered me,” Weber told AFP.

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