WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — President Donald Trump’s celebrations for America’s 250th birthday will begin Wednesday with an evening speech from the president with some of his biggest fans in attendance.
Attendees — wearing plenty of splashy outfits and historical costumes among a sea of red, white and blue and MAGA red — began to trickle through U.S. Secret Service security hours before Trump was set to give remarks initially scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern.
Excited guests shaded themselves from the sun with American flag placards until the U.S. Marine Corps band began to play a patriotic melody. Chairs in the front row at the stage’s edge were reserved for “Front Row Joes,” a nickname Trump gave to regulars at his 2024 presidential campaign rallies.
The grounds weren’t quite ready for primetime. Construction continued on the National Mall where Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair was scheduled to begin Thursday.
And food vendors hurried to hang menu signs as guests looked to see if food was ready for sale. Among the menu items were a $23 turkey leg, pretzel bites and plenty of Phorm, the energy drink owned by Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and close ally of Trump.
Bill Anderson, 64, of Plankinton, South Dakota, said he traveled to “just to take it in.”
“I don’t know what Trump’s speech is going to be, but it’s always going to be uplifting, and maybe tell us some things (that) are going to happen in the future,” Anderson said, adding the semiquincentennial makes him feel hopeful for what’s ahead in the U.S., which he predicted will be a stronger focus on Christianity.
Anderson attended the Christian heritage “Rededicate 250” event on the National Mall in May, which featured appearances by several Cabinet members and Republican lawmakers, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
‘Beautiful turning point’
Patti Gordon, 71, of Atlanta, wore matching red, white and blue sequined jackets with her friend from Texas. Each featured an eagle and stars and stripes on the back with the message, “America 250th Anniversary.”
Gordon, a vice chair of the Fulton County, Georgia, Republican Party, sat in the third row and said the semiquincentennial is a “beautiful turning point for this country.”
“I’m really hoping people become a little bit more patriotic and realize this country is worth saving,” she said. “I think a lot of people are trying to destroy this country and erase our history and say that we have a horrible history. We do not. We know we are the most generous country in the world, and we have helped people to freedom.”
Fulton County is a focus of Trump’s unfounded claims that he won the 2020 presidential election. In January, the Trump administration deployed federal agents to the county to seize ballots from the 2020 election.
Laura Strohmeyer, 37, a new resident of Washington, said she came out to the kickoff to see a B-2 stealth bomber fly by.
“I think it’s pretty awesome,” the former Virginia resident said of the kickoff. “I think it’s cool to celebrate our country, our history — something to be very proud of.”
Strohmeyer added that she hoped celebrating the country’s 250th would bring people together, rather than further separate them.
Honest Abe
Many attendees came in customized outfits featuring sequins, American flag print or political slogans.
One, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, called himself Honest Abe and said his real first name was Alex, but declined to provide States Newsroom his last name. He is a frequent presence at Trump’s rallies, and said he has twice been recognized by the president for his historical garb. The back of his jacket featured an image of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk with the words “Martyr for Truth and Freedom.”
As people milled about the kickoff celebration, many stopped to take their picture with the Lincoln impersonator who wore a “special guest” credential issued by Freedom 250. He gave several interviews.
“We’ll be happy to see him again, and to celebrate America 250 years, to be here with the patriots,” he said of Trump.
The impersonator said that, after George Washington and, of course, Lincoln, Trump ranks as the third-best president “in the Holy Story of America.”
Summer of celebration
Freedom 250, the Trump administration’s iteration of semiquincentennial celebrations, will stretch through the summer, with the Great American State Fair on the National Mall until July 10 followed by a high school athletic competition and an INDYCAR race around the National Mall in August.
The White House worked with the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship to promote a series of primetime mixed martial arts fights on Flag Day, and Trump’s 80th birthday, as a kickoff to the semiquincentennial.
The administration’s Freedom 250 events are not part of the America250 commission created by Congress a decade ago that is hosting events and initiatives around the country on Independence Day and throughout 2026.
States Newsroom’s Sam Gauntt contributed to this report
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