New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is delivering remarks in the morning about the occasion.
Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., in 2020. Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images file
Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s office said today.
According to the readout, Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the country’s 250th anniversary.
“The Prime Minister said in their conversation that the US is a guarantor of global freedom, and Israel greatly appreciates the close ties between nations,” the readout said.
It added that Netanyahu and Trump “agreed to meet soon” in the U.S.
Various U.S. government buildings — from courthouses to post offices — are festooned with banners and other decorations to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.
GSA Headquarters in Washington D.C. U.S. General Services Administration
Oklahoma City Federal Building, Oklahoma City, Okla. U.S. General Services Administration
Sidney R Yates Federal Building Washington, D.C. U.S. General Services Administration
U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, Texarkana, Ark. U.S. General Services Administration
Below is a collection of photos shared by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings and led the effort to install displays honoring America’s birthday in more than 250 federal buildings and leased spaces across all 50 states and U.S. territories.
As many good stories do, this one begins in Italy.
In 1889, Constantine Vitale opened a fireworks shop in his small Italian town, turning his fascination with pyrotechnics into a family business.
When he immigrated to the United States in 1920, he brought that expertise with him. After settling in New Castle, Pennsylvania — north of Pittsburgh — he opened up a fireworks business — one that would eventually become Pyrotecnico.
More than a century later, the company is in its fifth generation, producing fireworks, drone and light shows for everyone from Cardi B to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as well as communities across the country.
But nothing has compared to this.
“I think if he would see the company today, he would probably be incredibly proud, but probably think we were a little crazy,” Constantine’s great-grandson and current CEO, Stephen Vitale, told NBC News.
On July 4th in Washington, D.C., Pyrotecnico plans to launch more than 850,000 fireworks, aiming to shatter a world record previously set by a megachurch in the Philippines a decade ago.
The 40-minute display will launch from eight barges on the Potomac River and two land-based sites — West Potomac Park and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In all, about 58,000 pounds of fireworks were transported from western Pennsylvania to the nation’s capital, where a crew of 75 Pyrotecnico employees will bring the show to life.
To create the display, designer Jason Farrell traveled the world in search of the right fireworks. The finale will feature shells from Spain, Italy and China.
“Each country had kind of has their own take on how they create fireworks, so everybody has kind of a specialty of what they do,” Farrell said.
The fireworks will be synchronized to a live soundtrack performed by a military band made up of musicians from several branches of the U.S. armed forces. The set list spans six decades and includes “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue,” “Sweet Caroline” and “Party in the U.S.A.”
“There’s something about the feeling and the honor of doing a firework display on the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C.,” Vitale said. “It’s Independence Day at its best.”
Trump joined Second Lady Usha Vance in an episode released today for her podcast “Storytime with the Second Lady.”
In the episode, aimed at kids, Trump discussed a book about past presidents’ hobbies and exercise habits, “Presidents at Play,” which was authored by the White House Historical Association and which Trump called “really, very cute.”
Speaking about President William Taft, a baseball fan, Trump called Taft “our heaviest president.”
“He’d go to baseball games, loved the hot dogs at the baseball games. He was our heaviest president, and I have to be careful because I don’t want to supersede his record. Anything like that would be possible if I allowed it to happen,” Trump said.
“For all of you out there watching, keep yourself in good shape, right?” Trump said.
Asked what he reads for fun, Trump said, “Mostly newspapers. I usually read stories about myself.”
Trump also remarked on President Bill Clinton’s jogging, saying Clinton was “actually a nice guy,” who he said he likes “a lot.” And he talked about President Obama’s love of basketball, using his full name, “Barack Hussein Obama,” which Trump often does when attacking the 44th president politically.
Trump said, “I don’t know if I look good in a bathing suit. I haven’t had a bathing suit in a long time,” while talking about Gerald Ford swimming in an old outdoor pool at the White House.
He described John F. Kennedy as “the second most good-looking president.”
And he touched on John Quincy Adams, who would swim in the Tiber River, which once ran along what is now Constitution Ave. in Washington, and where Adams almost drowned.
“I don’t know if it exists anymore, but I think we’re building a beautiful ballroom on top of it, based on this picture,” Trump said, referencing his stalled White House ballroom project.
When Vance asked him what message he would send to kids about celebrating the Fourth of July, Trump said: “We have a great country that is on a little bit of a ledge right now, it can go one way or another, you understand that, but we’re going to make it go the other and we’re going to make America greater than ever before.”
For more than a century, crowds have gathered in Times Square to watch the iconic New Years Eve ball drop. Now, the tradition is getting a patriotic twist.
For the first time, the crystal ball will shine in red, white and blue to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday, marking the start of America250 celebrations that will continue through the Fourth of July. Rather than dropping just once, the ball will descend multiple times to mark midnight across U.S. time zones and territories.
Crowds gathered Times Square this morning to witness the first of eight ceremonial ball drops, which marked the arrival of July 4 in Guam.
Here’s the schedule (all times Eastern):
July 3, 10 a.m. ET: Guam ball drop
July 3, 11:59 p.m. ET: Eastern Time ball drop
July 4, 1 a.m. ET: Central Time ball drop
July 4, 2 a.m. ET: Mountain Time ball drop
July 4, 3 a.m. ET: Pacific Time ball drop
July 4, 4 a.m. ET: Alaska Time ball drop
July 4, 6 a.m. ET: Hawaii Time ball drop
July 4, 7 a.m. ET: Samoa Time ball drop
Boston officials have delayed public entry to the city’s annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular because of dangerous heat, though the event itself remains on schedule.
Gates to the Charles River Esplanade will open four hours later than usual, officials announced, as temperatures are expected to soar during the day.
The free celebration is still scheduled to run from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET, culminating in the annual fireworks display over the Charles River beginning at 9:15 p.m. ET, choreographed to music performed by the Boston Pops.
This year’s event is part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration and features performances by Lainey Wilson, Chance the Rapper, Trombone Shorty and Megan Hilty, with Jane Lynch serving as host.
Read the full story here.
Mamdani concluded his remarks with a pitch for the future.
“Those ideals upon which our nation was built, they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them,” he said, moments before ending his address. “Ours is a nation working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived, a nation striving each day to better itself. Therein lies the work of America, the striving, the bettering, the reaching towards perfection.”
“What a privilege each of us has to live in a nation that every one of its inhabitants can shape,” he continued. “What a responsibility each of us possesses to prove ourselves worthy of all those who came before. What power each of us holds to bring America ever closer to the greatness so many have seen when they looked upon these shores, the greatness that for 250 years has been America.”
The annual A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C., featuring the National Symphony and various artists, will proceed as planned despite “excessive heat” warnings in the nation’s capital, where temperatures are expected to top 100 degrees today.
Due to the heat, public entry has been delayed until 7 p.m. ET, but the concert will go on at 8 p.m. ET, Capitol Police said in a statement. Law enforcement also noted that the concert will air on public television and stream online “so people can watch from the comfort of their homes” instead of attending in person.
Mamdani dedicated a large portion of his speech to immigration, offering a rebuke of Trump’s policies without naming him.
“The irony is that the story of America has so often been written by those who were told by others with power and influence and wealth that they were anything but exceptional,” Mamdani said. “For generation after generation, we have been told that when the world has sent its people to our shores, it has not sent its best.”
Mamdani criticized “the powerful,” condemning their view, he said, that America “becomes less the more people it welcomes.”
“America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit how small they are. How weak, how unoriginal,” the mayor said.
Mamdani is speaking from behind George Washington’s desk in New York City Hall.
The mayor is highlighting New York’s role in the founding of America, in particular speaking of the immigrants who have helped shape the city.
Surrounded by recently naturalized U.S. citizens, didn’t mention Trump by name but seemed to allude to his politics several times in his remarks.
“At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics, and the cheapest, but time and again, including 250 years ago, those forces of division have been vanquished by the forces of progress,” Mamdani said.
Organizers have canceled the Wawa Welcome America Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade because of dangerous heat expected to hit Philadelphia today.
The change was made overnight after organizers announced on Thursday that the parade would start an hour earlier than planned.
But now, that has changed completely and there will be no parade at all.
Even as parade floats lined the roadways near Independence Hall early Friday in preparation of the event, organizers decided to cancel the parade because of the severe heat expected to impact the region.
Ahead of the cancelation, the start time was moved to earlier in the day and the route was shortened from the planned 2.4 mile length to just one mile, also because of the heat.
While the parade is canceled, the National Constitution Center event to honor Pope Leo XIV with the Liberty Medal will still be held on Friday, July 3, 2026, as it will be indoors.
Read the full story here.
More than $1 million was raised by the Kennedy Center this week after the venue announced a ticketed rooftop watch party for the Fourth of July.
In figures first shared with NBC News, over 1,200 people spent between $425 and $25,000 on tickets, according to the Center. They say the money raised will go toward the performance center’s general fund.
Aerospace giant Boeing is among the corporations to spend $25,000, which provides the company 36 tickets, three reserved tables, food, cocktails and activities.
Trump’s name was removed from the Kennedy Center’s facade just weeks ago.
While the Kennedy Center typically opens up their property given their prime location for fireworks viewing along the Potomac River, the Center’s haul doubled this year, in part thanks to an anonymous donor who gave $500,000.
“A record-breaking fundraising haul of over $1 million on our nation’s 250th birthday is a testament to growing enthusiasm for the future of America’s cultural center — opening our doors to supporters of the arts at all levels,” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations told NBC News in a statement.
The Kennedy Center had planned to close for two years beginning Monday, July 5, for what the Center said was much-needed renovations, before a federal judge blocked the closure.
In late May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing the Kennedy Center for repairs and ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building and its website.
Prior to the judge’s order, the center had laid off much of its programming and marketing staff, to prepare for the closure.
The rooftop terrace where the Fourth of July event will be held was the focus of the Kennedy Center leadership’s rush to close, citing nearly a dozen locations where rainwater had seeped through planters and garden beds and into the Center’s structure below.
The erosion of steel and concrete beams that hold up the Kennedy Center itself was seen during a tour of the facility attended by NBC News this spring.
Trump will headline an event tonight for America’s 250th anniversary at Mount Rushmore, which will conclude with a fireworks display over the national monument.
“President Trump will lead the nation in a historic celebration beneath one of America’s most iconic landmarks,” Keith Krach, chairman of Freedom 250, said in a recent statement. “Mount Rushmore stands as a tribute to the leaders who shaped the American experiment and secured the blessings of liberty for generations to come. As we mark 250 years, there’s no more fitting place to honor how far we’ve come, and to look ahead with optimism to the next chapter of the American story.”
South Carolina Gov. Larry Rhoden and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, both Republicans, are slated to introduce the president. Burgum previously served as governor of North Dakota.
Trump had similarly celebrated Independence Day at Mount Rushmore during his first term in 2020.
Tickets are required for the event tonight. The National Park Service said in an announcement, “As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to enhancing access for American residents, the lottery and event are open only to U.S. residents.”
NBC News has previously reported that some of Trump’s supporters wanted him added to the iconic monument — next to the carved faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln — but experts said there’s no room.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will deliver a “major address” this morning to mark America’s 250th birthday, his office told NBC News.
Mamdani will be surrounded by recently naturalized U.S. citizens, his office said.
Mamdani will speak from a desk used by President George Washington that is now housed at New York City Hall, the mayor’s office said. The desk was originally in Federal Hall, the nation’s first capitol building.
Read the full story here.
NBC News
Leave a Reply