DES MOINES, Iowa—President Donald Trump praised the passage of the One Massive Stunning Invoice Act in a speech on the Iowa State Fairgrounds marking the beginning of a yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
“There could possibly be no higher birthday current for America than the exceptional victory we achieved simply hours in the past, when Congress handed the one massive lovely invoice to make America nice once more,” Trump mentioned on the eve of Independence Day.
The president plans to signal the laws Friday throughout a picnic on the White Home, whereas stealth bombers and fighter jets that participated in latest airstrikes in Iran fly overhead.
“We’ve saved our nation,” he mentioned after taking the stage, pumping his fists whereas singer Lee Greenwood belted out “God Bless the USA.”
Home Republicans passed the Senate-approved model of the invoice earlier on Thursday. The laws fulfills a broad swath of the president’s agenda.
The occasion in Iowa marks the primary in a yearlong sequence of nationwide celebrations honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary, culminating in a show-stopping bonanza in Washington subsequent July 4. Organized by the America250 Fee, the patriotic-themed gathering in Iowa options music, fireworks, and truthful meals.
The president additionally introduced that the fee will host a Nice American State Truthful on the Nationwide Mall in the summertime of 2026.
“This will probably be a unifying, patriotic, family-friendly occasion that may characteristic displays from all 50 states and entice guests from all over the world,” in response to a press release from the White Home.
Native festivals in states and counties throughout the nation will take part in lead-up occasions to the massive celebration.
A Nationwide Backyard of American Heroes park that includes statues of 250 historic figures will honor the nation’s historical past on a brand new out of doors monument area funded by the One Massive Stunning Invoice Act.
To assist encourage wholesome exercise, Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is tasked with organizing an occasion often known as the Patriot Video games.
Highschool athletes will compete in a nationally televised occasion, in response to the White Home.
The president mentioned particular occasions are deliberate at parks and battlefields nationwide. And each division and company will take part in festivities, with federal buildings festooned with patriotic decor, the assertion from the White Home mentioned.
Trump additionally teased a UFC combat on the White Home, with hundreds of spectators.
He mentioned a newly signed government order that raises park entrance charges for overseas vacationers will assist fund the occasions.
“The nationwide parks will probably be about America first,” Trump mentioned.
With Independence Day looming, he spoke of a have to honor the flag, the founding fathers, and the ideas the nation was constructed on.
Chants of “U.S.A.” flooded the fairgrounds on a number of events.
In a warning to these looking for to undermine america—and referencing the first win of New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani within the race for New York Metropolis mayor—the president denounced communism.
“As president of america, I’m proclaiming right here and now that America isn’t going to be communist in any manner, form, or type, and that features New York Metropolis,” mentioned Trump, who hails from town.
Mamdani, a Democrat, is a self-described democratic socialist and has denied the accusation that he’s a communist.
On the truthful forward of the speech, hundreds of attendees wore Trump merchandise, with crimson, white, and blue garb marking the colours of the day.
The selection of Iowa for Trump’s message additionally carried political weight after he gained its 2024 caucuses in a landslide and carried it by 13 factors within the normal election final November.
One organizer mentioned the gathering can be meant to carry the nation’s roughly 340 million residents collectively.
“We chosen Iowa as a result of it’s America’s heartland, and the complete function of America250 is to unite the nation,” U.S. Ambassador Monica Crowley, the group’s principal media consultant, mentioned in a press release.
The primary Iowa state truthful was held in 1854, just some years after statehood was achieved.
The truthful is one among greater than 2,000 state, county, and native festivals held yearly nationwide, with many that includes patriotic themes and traditions.
“They’re all about America,” Jeremy Parsons, CEO of the Iowa state truthful, mentioned throughout opening remarks. “Fairly frankly, festivals symbolize the perfect of our nation.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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